Stability
by Random1377
Summary: A horror story.  Rated M for violent and disturbing content.  Complete.
1. Alternation

Disclaimer: _Love Hina_ is owned by Ken Akamatsu, not me. Should he, or any of his associates ask, this story will be removed from the web ASAP.

Stability

Part 2 – Alternation

By Random1377

"Has anyone seen Shinobu?"

Keitaro looked up from the newspaper he was glancing through. "Umm, I think she's in her room," he told Naru, smiling as his wife flopped down on the couch at his side. "She said something about a stomachache."

"Might be that time of the month," Kitsune mumbled, keeping her eyes glued to the racing schedule in her hands. "She usually starts around this time, isn't she?"

Looking a bit green, Keitaro mumbled, "Do we have to talk about that kind of stuff?"

Naru yawned and leaned against him, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she replied, "You'd think after five years of living with women you'd get used to it."

"Well, I don't discuss it with everyone," Keitaro whined.

"Anyway," Naru said after a moment of awkward silence, "she's been acting kind of weird for a couple days, haven't you guys noticed?"

Keitaro shrugged. "She took a lot of classes this term," he pointed out, "and she told me that her parents aren't doing really well with their restaurant, so…"

Naru chewed on her bottom lip. "We should lower her rent a little," she said, shooting Kitsune a quick glance. "I mean, just temporarily, not… not permanently."

"Don't get all freaked out," Kitsune said calmly. "It's not bias if someone needs a hand for a month or two… I know you'd do it for me if I really needed it."

Raising his newspaper to his eyes – more to hide his face from the others than anything else – Keitaro mumbled. "I, umm… I already did."

Naru pulled the paper down, leaning forward and giving Keitaro a deep, thorough kiss. "That's my man," she whispered softly. "I should have known you'd already have it taken care of."

"I'm going to get a drink," Kitsune announced suddenly, pausing a moment before dryly adding, "I'll be taking it on a slow walking tour of the building, which should take me about twenty minutes, before I go to my room to catch a nap. If I was a newlywed with a single tenant napping on the floor directly above me, I'd want to get any… business I had to take care of finished up before she got back to her room."

"K-Kitsune!" Keitaro stammered, going bright red. "We weren't… we…"

Rising to her feet, Naru stretched. "Twenty minutes?" she asked casually. "Well, we do need to go over the plans to fix up the pipes on the third floor, so twenty minutes should be enough time to discuss it in private."

"We do?" Keitaro wondered. "But I thought-"

"Keitaro," Naru cut in gently.

"Hmm?"

"You're so handsome."

Keitaro blinked, looking in confusion from one smiling woman to the other before giving up on deciphering what he had missed. Ultimately, he shrugged and muttered, "I thought they were fixed…"

As he made his way out of the room, Kitsune murmured to Naru, "It's a good thing he _is_ handsome."

"I know," Naru sighed, "because he sure doesn't have a clue."

( 0 0 0 )

Kitsune liked walking around the Hinata Sou. So many memories were wrapped up in the place that every location reminded her of some adventure or another, bringing a smile to her face as she thought of days gone past and the friendship that used to flourish in the spacious dormitory.

_And it's still here,_ Kitsune thought as she leaned up against the wall near the door to the hot springs. _It's just that… everyone's grown up so much lately. I mean, Shinobu and Kaolla are both third year Todai students – third year! God, I remember when they were barely high school students._

Taking a sip of her root beer, Kitsune closed her eyes.

_And then there's Keitaro and Naru…_ she mused. _No one's changed as much as they have._

"H-hi Kitsune…"

Opening her eyes, Kitsune found Shinobu approaching her from further up the hallway. "Hey squirt," she said playfully, "feeling any better?"

Shinobu absently rubbed her stomach, as if remembering the pain she had recently been in. "Yeah," she said, speaking cautiously in case mentioning the pain brought it back. "The pain's gone, but I'm all sweaty. I think I had a fever."

"Aww, you should have told me," Kitsune said gently, giving the girl a playful wink. "I would have put cool towels on your brow and made your favorite meal – just like a good wife should."

Laughing weakly, Shinobu said, "I wouldn't have liked that… the… the sheets on my bed felt weird while I was lying there – like they were too rough or something. I think a towel would have made me cry."

"Damn," Kitsune chuckled, "that must have been one hell of a fever."

Shinobu looked out at the hot springs. "Yeah, but I'm better now," she said. "Better than better, actually… I feel really good."

Kitsune nodded. "I know what you mean," she said. "When you're sick, it seems like it'll never end, so when you get better, it's like you've never felt as good in your whole life."

"Yeah – yeah!" Shinobu said excitedly. "That's it exactly! I've never… I can't remember ever feeling this good. Maybe it's the medicine I-"

Oddly, she cut herself off.

"…the medicine I took when I started getting sick."

Kitsune shrugged. "Must be."

_Weird,_ she thought, eyeing the girl thoughtfully. _It's like she didn't want me to know she took medicine to get better. She's always trying so hard to be grown up… it's kind of sad, sometimes – like we'll think less of her if she has to take a few pills to get over a fever…_

"It's so hot today," Shinobu commented suddenly, pulling her shirt away from her chest and letting it fall back to create a puff of air. "Don't you think it's hot today?"

"Maybe a little," Kitsune shrugged. "You want some of my soda?"

"Yes, _please,_" the younger girl exclaimed, licking her lips in anticipation as Kitsune held out the can. Holding it up to her lips, Shinobu took a long sip, her eyes going wide as if she had never tasted anything as flavorful in her life. After a moment, she took another, slower sip, keeping the root beer in her mouth for several moments before swallowing it with an audible gulp. "This is so good," she exclaimed once she had swallowed, "can I have it?"

Kitsune blinked, surprised by the suddenness of the request. "Well, umm… sure… I guess."

_I WAS kind of thirsty,_ she added mentally, watching the younger girl take another sip, _but if you like it that much… whatever…_

"Thank you, Kitsune," Shinobu said happily, giving the gray-haired girl a radiant smile. "Thank you so much!"

"Easy," Kitsune snorted, "it's just a soda."

But Shinobu's smile was so infectious that Kitsune could not help but smile back.

Abruptly, Shinobu stepped forward and put her arms around Kitsune's waist. "I like you," she said bluntly, smiling up into Kitsune's stunned face. "I like you a lot, Kitsune, you're so nice."

"Umm… thanks…?"

Nodding happily, Shinobu let go of Kitsune and wandered off down the hall, humming under her breath and taking little sips of her root beer.

Kitsune watched her going with a confused expression, then frowned and headed back into the kitchen for another drink. _Gives me an excuse to stay away from my room,_ she thought ironically, _They've_ _still got five minutes._

( 0 0 0 )

Naru sighed contentedly as she settled into the hot springs, splashing a bit of the warm water onto her face before settling back against a rock and letting her muscles unwind. _Man,_ she thought happily, _I thought coming here after a workout was relaxing, but coming here after… wow, just wow…_

Things, in her opinion, could not have been going better. Her teaching job was stable, after a few false starts and hesitations, and Keitaro's archeology digs did not keep him away as much as they had thought, making each homecoming a sweet, passionate affair.

_Leave it to Kitsune to move into my old room so we never have any privacy,_ she thought, trying not to roll her eyes. _I mean, I know it's bigger than her old one, and that Ema girl needed a place, but we're newlyweds! I don't want to have to be quiet, damn it!_

She blushed, sinking a little lower in the water at this amoral thought.

There was no way, she knew, Kitsune would ever let her hear the end of it if the gray-haired girl found out that Naru was a screamer. _I can't help it,_ she thought, smiling wickedly as she thought of her most recent encounter with her husband, _and I haven't heard HIM complain, so I guess-_

A soft splash drew her attention, and looking up, she found Shinobu settling into the water five feet away from her. "Hi," she said politely, hoping that her cheeks were not so red that Shinobu would notice. "Feeling better?"

Shinobu nodded, setting what looked like a can of root beer down on the rock next to her and submerging herself entirely before coming up spluttering and coughing. "No," she coughed as Naru started towards her, "no, I'm ok, I just forgot to close my nose."

"Oh," Naru said, still looking concerned as Shinobu coughed a few more drops of water from her mouth. "Umm, ok, well… ok…"

Leaning against her rock, Shinobu let her body float in the warm water. "This feels so good," she said wonderingly. "I never really noticed how good it feels to just… float, before."

Reminded of her recent thoughts, Naru replied, "I know exactly what you mean."

The two shared a smile – the kind that only people enjoying the same simple pleasure could – and lapsed into silence. For several moments, they simply drifted together, keeping their thoughts to themselves, before Shinobu slowly made her way over to Naru's side, putting her back up against the same rock and staring down into the water for some time before finally speaking.

"What's it like?"

"Well," Naru said slowly, "it's like being weightless… drifting and warm and-"

Shinobu blushed as she cut in, "I wasn't talking about the water."

Smiling gently, Naru whispered, "Neither was I, Shinobu…"

"Is it… is this ok?" Shinobu asked awkwardly. "Can I talk to you about this kind of stuff…?"

Naru sighed. "It's… kind of weird, but I guess there really isn't anyone else to talk to about it besides Kitsune, so… sure."

Shinobu looked relieved. "Sorry I asked so suddenly," she said weakly.

"I don't really mind," Naru assured her, "but why the sudden interest?" She nudged Shinobu in the ribs. "Do you have a boyfriend, Shinobu?" she teased, clapping with delight as Shinobu hid her face with her hands. "You sneak – you do, don't you?"

Clearing her throat, Shinobu replied, "I, umm… I just want to know what it's like, that's all…"

"Mmm, ok," Naru said, sobering for a moment. "But if you are, you know… in that kind of relationship, make sure you've really thought it out before… you know." Brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, she whispered, "Keitaro and I waited a long time before… before being together. You don't have to rush, Shinobu, and don't ever let him pressure you, ok?"

Shinobu nodded. "So… what's it like…?" Before Naru could reply, the younger girl added, "Does it hurt?"

Naru's answer was immediate. "Yes. It hurt like hell the first time."

"Then why keep doing it?" Shinobu wondered, looking honestly curious. "I mean… why keep doing something that hurts that bad?"

"It, umm… because I knew it would feel good if I kept trying," Naru said awkwardly.

"But how did you know?" Shinobu insisted softly. "If you only had the first time to go on… how did you know it would ever feel good?"

"I just… I knew," Naru blurted. "People talk, I've… I've read about it, and-"

"What if they were wrong?"

"Huh?"

"What if, for you, it never felt good?" Shinobu asked leaning forward and studying Naru's eyes closely as she lowered her voice. "How many times would you have tried it, if it kept _not_ feeling good? Once? Twice? A hundred? How many times would it take before you decided it was never going to feel good for you?"

"But it does," Naru insisted, feeling very confused by the odd line of questioning. "It feels… it feels incredible – it only hurt the first time, really… well, and a little bit the second time, but every time after that, it's been really, really…" she fumbled for words, "…nice."

"Nice," Shinobu echoed, rolling the word around in her mouth as if trying to taste it. "It's funny, isn't it?" she said thoughtfully, resting her cheek on Naru's shoulder and staring down at the older woman's body. "People keep doing things that hurt thinking that somehow it'll end up feeling better eventually. Isn't that… kind of crazy?"

Naru glanced pensively at the top of the girl's head. "Did… did it already happen, Shinobu? Is that why you've been hiding in your room for the past couple days?"

For a moment, she was sure that this was the answer. It just seemed to fit the girl's reclusive behavior and tired appearance, but Shinobu slowly shook her head, easing herself closer to Naru's side as she yawned, "I'm gonna… rest for a minute… k?"

"Ok," Naru said, wondering if perhaps she had missed some sort of clue in the girl's odd commentary on pain.

"I'll bet…" Shinobu paused for another yawn. "I'll bet it's nice because it's Keitaro…"

Naru smiled. "That could be," she admitted. "He's really gentle and…"

She trailed off as a soft snore rose from the dark-haired girl at her side. Shrugging, she settled in and put an arm around Shinobu's shoulders, letting her nap until she too drifted off. Her dreams were pleasant, if a bit on the erotic side – and though she would never tell Shinobu about it, one of them revolved around the two of them making out rather heavily in the Hinata Sou's living room while Shinobu asked her questions about life and love between brief, yet searing kisses.

When Naru woke, her face was flushed and her breathing was short and fast – just as it always was when she finished making love to Keitaro. Shinobu, it seemed, had not moved since Naru drifted off, though on her face was a small, content little smile that, for reasons Naru could not explain, made the older woman very, very uncomfortable.

Continued…

Notes: no notes except that chapter 1 is absent for a reason.

Hawker-748 pre-read.


	2. Chrysalis

Disclaimer: see part 1.

Stability

Part 3 – Chrysalis

By Random1377

Shinobu lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about the events of the last few days. Her feet were planted flat on mattress and her knees swung slowly back and forth in the air as her fingertips lightly ran across her smooth, flat stomach. Her shirt was lying by the side of her bed, but once she finished what she was doing, she would put it back on, since her newest fever had gone down.

For the moment, though, she contented herself with taking in the texture of her skin, enjoying the way it felt under her fingers as the sleek muscles of her stomach clenched and unclenched at her feather-light touch.

On her table, a small journal sat open, showing the current day's entry.

_No pain today,_ the entry read. _Fever again, but not as bad as yesterday. Don't want to write too long, pen feels weird. Everything feels weird, but kind of good, too. Everything is all bright. It hurts my eyes, but it all looks so pretty, I don't want to stop looking._

That was all that she had written for the day, and it was her shortest entry to date.

"One, two, three, four…" slowly, Shinobu counted the ribs on her right side, moving upward from the bottom until her breast impeded her movement. Closing her eyes, she began to explore, delighted to find that her body was every bit as supple and pliant as Naru's.

_Not as big,_ she thought critically, _but I'm… I'm not that bad…!_

It was rather a startling revelation for her. Since moving into the Hinata Sou, and being surrounded by the likes of Kitsune, Naru, Motoko, and Mutsumi, Shinobu had developed a rather sizeable inferiority complex (if you'll pardon the obvious pun), so it came as somewhat of a surprise to her to recognize that – while not as large – her body was every bit as feminine as theirs.

_This is so amazing._

Everything in her room – everything in the entire world – seemed so much more alive. Colors sparkled and danced, smells enticed like never before, and everything she touched and tasted seemed new and exciting.

As she brought her other hand into play, Shinobu's subconscious began to suggest a few other things that might not be such a bad thing to try. _It'll be ok,_ she thought, biting her bottom lip as sweat broke out on her brow, _if this feels THIS good, just think of how good…_

For a moment, the world went white, and Shinobu found thought impossible. When she regained her senses, her eyes slowly opened… and the world was even brighter than before, making her whimper and immediately close them again.

_Just think,_ she mused, _just think how good… it's going to be…_

Slowly, she rose to her feet and pulled her shirt over her head, her face contemplative as she went to her desk and sat down to think.

( 0 0 0 )

Su bounced down the stairs, humming to herself as she tossed her homework onto the table by the door – ready to grab when they headed out to class the next day. College, she had found, was very easy. So easy, in fact, that she wondered how Keitaro and the rest had such a hard time getting in to begin with.

_Everyone's doing great now, though, _she thought as she pushed the kitchen door open. _Even…_

"…Shinobu?"

The dark haired girl did not look up from what she was doing, wetting her lips as she leaned closer to the bouquet of flowers Keitaro had bought for Naru the day before and taking a deep breath, clearly enjoying the smell.

"What are you doing?"

Shinobu did not reply immediately, too caught up, it seemed in the simple act of inhaling.

"What are these called?" she asked suddenly, closing her eyes and taking another deep sniff as the other girl walked to her. "They smell incredible!"

Su laughed, running a fingertip along one of the petals as she said, "They're just lilies."

Shinobu smiled happily. "I thought they smelled familiar," she said guiltily. "They just smell so good to me I thought they might be a new hybrid or something."

"You're in a good mood," Su observed as Shinobu (inspired by her) ran a finger along one of the flower's petals. "Did something good happen, Shinobu?" She smiled suddenly. "Naru said you've got a boyfriend… did he kiss you?"

Shaking her head, Shinobu said, "No, I don't have a boyfriend, and the only two people I've ever kissed were you and Keitaro, and that was just once each. No one wants to kiss me."

Su nudged the dark-haired girl in the ribs. "Come on," she winked, "with that cute face? You've got to have a boyfriend by now… or are you still holding out for Keit-"

"Feel how soft this one is," Shinobu cut in suddenly, leading Su's finger to the petal she was touching. "It's so… fragile."

Letting the topic go, Su obediently stroked the flower petal, but she felt nothing extraordinary. _It's nice to be this close to her, though,_ she mused, looking with open affection at Shinobu's profile. _We never get to play anymore… everyone's so grownup now – I hate that…_

Any outsider may have misunderstood Su's affections – indeed, they may have misunderstood Su entirely, thinking that she was a lesbian. However, had she been asked where she stood on the matter, Su would have said that she loved who she loved and saw no real distinction between male and female.

If she loved someone, she loved them with all of her heart, and honestly, her entire concept of love did not really encompass sexual desire, neatly sidestepping questions of homosexuality and morality.

Su simply did not see the world the way most people did.

"Do you want me to kiss you again?" she asked suddenly, smiling as Shinobu finally pulled her eyes away from the flower. "I still like you, and I don't have a boyfriend either," she went on, resting an elbow on the table and leaning a bit closer, "so if you want to kiss someone, kiss me."

Shinobu reached up and ran her fingers against her lips, blushing faintly as she whispered, "I… are you sure you want to, Su? We're not little kids anymore, and-"

"Aw, who cares?" Su laughed. "If you need a kiss, I don't mind at all."

"Mmm… ok."

Su smiled as her friend leaned forward and gave her a tiny peck on the lips. "See, now that wasn't…" she trailed off, though as Shinobu did not pull back, instead putting a hand on Su's hip and taking another, slower kiss, closing her eyes and clearly savoring the feeling of the dark-skinned girl's lips on hers. "Sh-shinobu…"

"Sorry," Shinobu said, immediately pulling back as Su struggled to get free. "It… that was so much better than the first time we kissed."

"I don't… mind," Su said, feeling entirely too warm as she shifted from one foot to the other. "I just… that was pretty… intense…"

Shinobu bit her bottom lip. "Did you like it?"

Su's face reddened, but she bravely replied, "Well, I didn't _not_ like it, but I didn't _like_ it like it…"

"Oh," Shinobu mused. "Well I did – I liked it a lot. Your lips are so soft… it felt nice, Su… thanks for letting me see what it was like again."

"Sure."

Watching closely as Shinobu went back to smelling her flowers, Su tried to sort out her confused feelings. Kissing Motoko… kissing Keitaro… kissing Kitsune that one time the woman had been drunk – none of them had been even remotely like what had just happened with Shinobu.

The others, she realized suddenly, had been playful experimentation, but when Shinobu had kissed her, something had stirred inside of her, igniting like a tiny spark in a forest of kindling.

_And she doesn't even know it,_ Su marveled, studying Shinobu's profile as the girl leaned forward and put her nose right next to a lily and drew in a deep, satisfied breath. _She has no idea that I want to… that I could just…_

"Do you want to do it again?"

Shinobu looked up, blinking as if she had forgotten that Su was there at all. "Do I want to… huh?"

"Kiss," Su blurted, amazed that the girl genuinely looked confused. "Do you want to kiss again?"

"Oh," Shinobu said, seemingly torn between the kissing and the flowers, "I thought you didn't like it."

Su shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I don't, really," she said awkwardly, "but if you really want to, I mean… I am your best friend, right? So… if you want to…"

Shinobu smiled… and Su finally realized what had made their kiss so much better than the others she had experienced before. The stirring in her stomach, the sweatiness of her palms, the dryness of her mouth, it was all so clear – so obvious – that she could not believe she had not figured it out before.

_Or maybe I did,_ she thought, closing her eyes as Shinobu slowly leaned closer to her. _Maybe I just didn't WANT to believe that I…_ _that I'm in love with you, Shinobu…_

( 0 0 0 )

Keitaro could not remember ever being as warm and comfortable as he was on Friday morning. What could be better, he wondered, than waking up next to a warm, soft, willing (he could not think the word 'willing' enough) woman?

"Mmm… too early," Naru complained, pushing his hand away as he attempted to slip it under the covers. "Later," she yawned, snuggling up to him and doing nothing to quell his libido, "after lunch."

"Promise?" Keitaro asked hopefully, trying once more to ease his hand under the covers.

"Don't beg," his wife advised, grabbing his hand and leading it (momentarily) where he wanted it to be. "It's a big turn off when you beg, darling."

Keitaro sighed, contenting himself with the brief feel he had been allowed before tentatively wondering, "Why after lunch?"

Naru bit him playfully on the shoulder, drawing a surprised yelp from him. "Because no one will be in the house, stupid," she reminded him. "Lord, you're thick sometimes!" As Keitaro chuckled weakly, Naru's expression grew serious.

"I think Shinobu's in trouble…"

"In trouble?" Keitaro echoed. "Like… financially, or-"

"Like, _in trouble,_" Naru cut in impatiently, putting a hand significantly on her stomach. "You know… in… _tr-oub-le_…?"

"In… oh," Keitaro's eyes widened, "like pr-"

"Don't say it out loud!" Naru cried, clapping her hand over his mouth. "God, I'm trying to be subtle here! What if she was walking by our door?"

Keitaro rubbed his eyes. "Did she say something about it?" he asked as soon as she had removed her hand. "I mean… it seems like a pretty big thing to be guessing, you know? If she is, we'll help her – you know we will – but are you sure that's what's going on?"

Naru bit her bottom lip pensively. "Well," she said slowly, "she's had a lot of mysterious 'fevers' lately, and she keeps touching her stomach – and she asked me about sex the other day, and…" she trailed off. "Oh stop making that face! Girls talk about it too, you know!"

Nodding faintly, Keitaro gestured for her to continue.

"It just adds up," Naru concluded, idly running her hand across his chest. "I mean… she could be sick, I guess, but she said she feels great, so… so I just think it adds up, that's all."

"Mmm you could be right," Keitaro admitted, trying to pretend that he was not more interested in what her hand was doing than what her mouth was saying. "Should we ask her about it?"

Naru sighed. "I'll take care of this," she said evenly. "I love you, but you'd just put your foot in your mouth. Even if she's still early on, she'll probably still have mood swings and want strange foods, so if you see her crying for no reason, or asking for chocolate syrup on toast, just humor her, go with whatever she seems to want, and let me know as soon as you can, got it?"

Keitaro managed a nod, closing his eyes as her hand slid downward. "I thought you said you didn't-"

"Shh…" Naru whispered, slowly easing herself over until she was straddling his hips, "I changed my mind…"

As they began, Keitaro thought of something that might relate to Shinobu health…but he soon forgot as other sensations took precedence in his mind, and by the time they had finished, it was long since forgotten.

( 0 0 0 )

In the room just a few doors down from Keitaro and Naru's, Shinobu lay with her head under her big fluffy pillow, trying to pretend that she had not heard what she had just heard. _Imagination,_ she told herself fiercely, _it had to be my imagination. Naru-sempai's not that… loud…_

She groaned as a knock sounded on her door.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," Su said quietly, "we're going to be late for class."

Shinobu pushed her pillow off of her head. "I don't wanna go," she pouted as Su slipped into her room. "Can't I just call in or something? My eyes hurt."

Sitting down on the edge of the girl's bed, Su replied, "You can borrow a pair of my sunglasses if you want, but yeah, we have to go."

"Aww!"

Su smiled, tentatively resting her hand on Shinobu's as the dark-haired girl rolled onto her back. "I umm… do you wanna go somewhere after school?" she asked tentatively. "Maybe… maybe a movie or something?"

"O…k…" Shinobu said through an expansive yawn, blinking as her eyes finally focused on Su's face. "Wow, you look really pretty today," she said, propping herself up on one arm and leaning in for a closer look. "Are you wearing makeup? You look so grownup, Su!" she leaned closer still, closing her eyes as she inhaled deeply. "Ooo, and you smell like lilies, too!"

Su blushed. "I'm glad you like it," she said, unfamiliar with the feeling of being at a loss for words. She seemed on the verge of saying more, but Shinobu suddenly reached out and wrapped her arms around the dark-skinned girl's shoulders.

"I'm so glad I know you," she said, her voice so honest that Su began to shiver.

"M-me too," Su breathed, returning the embrace and trying to remember every nuance of the way it felt to have Shinobu in her arms. "I… there's something…"

"What is it?"

But Su lost her nerve. "Never mind," she said quickly, reluctantly pulling away. "I'll tell you later, ok?"

"Oh, ok," Shinobu said brightly. "Promise you won't forget?"

"Sure."

As Su rose to her feet, Shinobu caught her hand. "There's something I wanted to tell you too," she said shyly, "but you have to promise you won't laugh."

"Ok," Su said curiously, "what is it?"

"I really liked kissing you."

Su felt dizzy as Shinobu smiled up at her, and it was only then that Su's distracted mind noticed that the other girl was naked under the blankets. "You… what?"

"I know you didn't really like it," Shinobu said warmly, "but I thought it was great. Your lips were so soft, and-"

She was cut off as Su suddenly leaned forward and kissed her again, pushing her down onto the bed, though not with enough force that the other girl couldn't have gotten away… just with enough to let her know that there was need.

"I lied," she whispered, breaking the kiss to deliver this one, imperative message. "Shinobu, when I said that, I lied."

For a long moment, the two simply stared into each others eyes, and then – abruptly – Shinobu broke into a wide, infectious smile.

"I'm glad."

Su started to lean forward for another kiss, but held herself back, unsure if this meant that Shinobu wanted more, or if she was simply glad that Su had enjoyed herself while kissing her.

"We're gonna be late," Shinobu said, still smiling brightly as she put her hands on Su's shoulders and pushed her gently away.

Su opened her mouth to ask what, exactly, would happen next, but Shinobu's smile was so open and warm that the dark-skinned girl simply let it go.

_She said she'd go with me to a movie,_ she reasoned as Shinobu slipped out of bed and began to get dressed. _And she didn't stop me from kissing her, so I guess that means…_

Though it was not conclusive, Su felt that her reasoning was sound. Shinobu, as far as she was concerned, was now her girlfriend.

"I have something else I wanted to tell you, too," Shinobu said as she fastened her bra and pulled a clean shirt out of her closet, "but I have to wait a few weeks to talk about it, ok…?"

Su nodded. "Ok," she said, waiting until the other girl was dressed before slipping her hand into hers. "Is it something bad?"

"No," Shinobu said running the ball of her thumb along the back of Su's hand as she pulled her door open and grabbed her book bag with her free hand.

"…it's something wonderful."

Continued…

Author's notes: I've decided not to note anything in this story.

Pre-read by Hawker-748.


	3. Metamorphosis

Disclaimer: see part 1.

Stability

Part 4 – Metamorphosis

By Random1377

Keitaro rubbed his eyes as he made his way towards the kitchen, pausing as the last chimes of the grandfather clock in the living room faded away. _Is it still a midnight_ _snack if it's 12:30?_ he asked himself, resuming his journey as the fear of punishment set in. _What is WITH her lately?_ he wondered, thinking (not un-fondly) of his wife's sudden interest in celebrating their union. _I mean, I'm not complaining… but three times in one day? Maybe it's that new cologne I got, but…_

His thoughts trailed off, and he stopped dead in his tracks as he heard the sound that makes men everywhere quake and long to run for cover.

The sound of sniffling.

"Umm… is everything ok?" he asked cautiously, making his way into the living room, where the television was glowing a soft, soothing blue. "Shin…obu?"

In the couch was, indeed, the dark-haired young woman, her face streaked with tears as she hugged one of the couch pillows up to her chest.

"Are you… uh…"

"This show is so sad," Shinobu sniffed suddenly, wiping at her red-rimmed eyes as she nodded towards the television. "The… the mother rabbit just g-got eaten by a f-fox!"

Frowning, Keitaro peered around to see what Shinobu was watching. "It's… the Discovery Channel," he said slowly. "Shinobu, you're watching a nature program, stuff like that happens."

"I know!" Shinobu wailed, "But they don't have to be so mean to each other!"

Keitaro looked at the girl, then suddenly remembered Naru's advice.

"Do you want me to turn it off?" he asked timidly.

Living with five women, Keitaro knew better than most how delicate a girl could be during her cycle, and had (mostly out of a need to survive) grown quite adept at soothing and defusing hormone-addled tempers – but he had never had any experience with a pregnant woman before, so he was a bit out of his depth.

To his very great relief, Shinobu looked up at him and smiled. "You're so thoughtful," she said, her tears entirely forgotten as he reached out and snapped off the TV. "Are you hungry, Sempai? I feel like cooking."

Bouncing to her feet, the girl headed into the kitchen, leaving Keitaro to follow. _Mood swing,_ he thought warily, _maybe Naru was right after all._

"It's so hot today," the girl commented, fanning herself with one hand as they went into the kitchen.

"It's probably just because you were crying," Keitaro offered. "I know when I cry it makes me all red and… I mean, you know, when I used to cry when I was a kid… heh…"

Shinobu simply smiled.

Keitaro watched the girl closely as she went about making them a late night snack, glancing at her stomach every time he had the chance, then looking away as soon as Shinobu's head started to turn his way. _She doesn't LOOK pregnant,_ he thought skeptically. _But…_ _God, I don't know how to tell! I know you don't go from doing it to being all big and round, but I don't know much about how long it takes, either. Man I wish I'd paid more attention in bio!_

"You want some toast with chocolate syrup on it?" Shinobu asked evenly, sounding as if this was the most natural choice for a late night nosh. "That sounds so good to me."

_Well, that clinches it…_

"I'll get it," Keitaro said quickly, hurrying to Shinobu's side and pulling the chair closest to her away from the table. "Here, sit down."

Shinobu blushed. "S-such a gentleman," she said awkwardly, slipping into the seat and rubbing absently at her stomach. "But I really did feel like cooking…"

Keitaro barely heard her.

_God, she IS isn't she?_ he thought, stealing a look at Shinobu's stomach as he headed for the toaster. _What do I do? Is she like, fragile or something? Maybe I should run back and tell Naru. I know she's up… I mean, she DID send me in here to get her a sandwich._

"Did you hear that?"

Jumping, quite literally, Keitaro whipped around. "Huh?"

Shinobu had her head tilted to one side, frowning slightly as she said, "I thought I heard Naru calling you."

They listened together for a moment in silence, and as Keitaro was opening his mouth to say that he hadn't heard anything, the door to the kitchen opened, and a rumpled looking Naru came in, squinting around until she found Keitaro.

"What's taking so long?" she said irritably. "I was starting to fall asleep waiting for you." Blinking, she noticed Shinobu, unconsciously straightening her disheveled hair. "Oh, hi… I didn't know you were still up."

"Yeah," Shinobu said brightly, "Keitaro was just going to make me a little toast… my stomach is kind of upset."

Naru cast Keitaro a significant glance, which he answered by holding up a bottle of chocolate syrup and shrugging elaborately.

"Mmm, I see," Naru, said, taking the seat next to Shinobu, "well, you know, I'm glad he's able to help you out. And, umm… if there's anything else on your mind, I'd be able to help you out to – you know, just so you know."

"Oh, thanks," Shinobu said happily. "I keep forgetting sometimes how nice everyone here is. I'm glad I live here."

Everyone fell silent for a few minutes as Keitaro made toast and spread a thin layer of chocolate on it. Together, the married couple watched Shinobu attack it with gusto, consuming them almost as fast as Keitaro could make them until she was on her fifth slice.

"I love your shampoo," Naru said suddenly, leaning forward and taking a deep sniff. "Mm… is that jasmine? It smells so good."

Shinobu paused smiled. "It's just the shampoo I always use," she said happily, "but I'm glad you like it. You can use it if you want."

Naru nodded, taking another, deeper smell. "Mmm… thanks," she whispered, rising abruptly to her feet. "Well, I think we're going to get to bed," she announced, taking Keitaro's hand and leading him towards the door. "Night Shinobu."

"Night."

Keitaro barely had time to wish Shinobu goodnight before he was dragged back to his room and ravished by his wife. He thought it odd, at first, that she was in the mood again so soon after finishing, but the old adage about gift horses flashed through his mind, and he decided that he would be a fool to pass on a fourth round of intimacy.

Afterward, he almost made the connection before drifting off into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

( 0 0 0 )

"I think she's on drugs."

Naru rubbed the bridge of her nose, waving a hand dismissively as she said, "Kitsune, come on – this is Shinobu we're talking about."

Glancing around, she took in the other assembled Hinata Sou residents, feeling – once again – that it was right to exclude Ema from this meeting. This was, after all, a matter for the older residents to resolve.

"And pregnancy is a more realistic option?" Motoko murmured skeptically.

"More realistic than her being a dope fiend?" Naru shot back. "Absolutely!"

"She's just sick," Su said, glancing around entreatingly at the others as if trying to make them see her point of view. "Why are you guys making such a big deal out of this?"

Kitsune leaned back against the wall she was standing by. "She spent five minutes smelling my throat yesterday because she liked my perfume," she said dryly. "That, to me, is a little odd."

Su rolled her eyes. "She has a fever again," she pointed out. "I'm going up to check on her in a little while – but come on, everyone's had a fever, right? Everyone's a little weird when they have a fever, even you, Kitsune. I remember one time you thought it might be a good idea to put Naru's bras in-"

"Well, we're not talking about me," Kitsune cut in sharply, giving the confused Naru a nervous smile. "Come on, Su, you have to admit that she's been a little off – and it's not just when she's running a fever, either, she's been acting screwy for a couple weeks now."

"That doesn't mean she's carrying a love child," Su pointed out with some exasperation, "or that she's dropping acid when no one's looking. Maybe she's got a cold. I saw her taking some medicine the other day… or do you think that Ecstasy comes in blister packs now? Don't you think it's possible you're all freaking out just a bit too much over this?"

Kitsune mumbled something about this being the longest running cold she'd ever heard of, then fell silent, folding her arms over her breasts and staring sullenly down at the floor.

"I agree with Su," Motoko spoke up, studying her fingernails absently as everyone glanced in her direction. "The odds of Shinobu getting herself hooked on some kind of drug are as farfetched as Tama carrying us all on his back – and as for her being pregnant… well, I'll grant that she _has_ been acting a little odd, but she is not the kind of girl to get herself in trouble without asking her friends for help. And besides, we all know that she's still carrying a torch for… someone."

Keitaro coughed into his fists as all eyes were focused on him. "Come on," he said awkwardly, "she knows Naru and I are married… she's gotten past that, Motoko."

Motoko shrugged, giving a noncommittal, 'hmm,' as Naru rose from where she was sitting and strode into the middle of the room.

"House vote."

A 'house vote' was one of Naru's brainchildren. She had raised the point that everyone who lived in the Hinata Sou had an equal right to participate in any major decision faced by the owners, as long as they understood that the final say was Keitaro's. The deed was, after all, in his name… but he always went with the majority rule anyway, and in the three votes they had had since instituting the idea, only one of them had not ended in a unanimous vote.

Kitsune was still a bit upset that they had shot down her idea to add an outdoor beer tap to the hot springs area.

"All those in favor of asking Shinobu directly if she's in trouble?"

Naru and Kitsune's hands immediately went into the air.

"All those in favor of letting her come to us if she needs help?"

Motoko and Su lifted their hands, then – to Naru's surprise – Sarah, who had said nothing since the meeting had started, raised her hand.

"Why?" Naru wanted to know, turning her full attention to the Hinata Sou's youngest resident. "Why do you think-"

"People should mind their own business," Sarah whispered, looking Naru square in the eyes. "If she hasn't asked for help, you have no right to just butt into her life. Even if she's pregnant, on drugs, _and_ possessed by demons, it's none of your damn business until she says she needs help." Naru opened her mouth to protest, but before she could speak, Sarah added, "If I was trying my hardest to be an adult, and I had a problem come up that was giving me trouble, I would never forgive someone that stepped in and made me feel like a child all over again… would you?"

Naru shifted uncomfortably as everyone watched her, waiting for her rebuttal. Shinobu's weakest area, as everyone knew, was the perceived borderline between childhood and adulthood… and even Su, who had always acted older than she was when the chips were down, could not relate to her on the same level as Sarah – at barely fifteen – could.

In light of this observation, and the vote, Naru knew that she was not going to win this fight. "Fine," she said tiredly, glancing at her husband from the corners of her eyes. "But if it was me, and I was in trouble, I'd want someone to step in and…"

She trailed off as Kitsune snorted through her nose and pushed away from the wall. "Now that," she said coolly, "is all the BS I can stand for one night. I'm going to bed."

Naru's shoulders slumped. "Yeah, goodnight," she sighed, watching despondently as everyone dispersed, leaving her alone with her husband. "Why didn't you vote?" she asked as soon as they were alone. "As the owner… your vote counts for two. Why didn't you vote?"

Keitaro stared down at his hands, but said nothing.

"Come on," Naru said softly, "let's go to bed…"

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," she whispered, taking his hand as they started for their room. "I understand why, just… let's not talk about it right now…"

Biting his lip, Keitaro nodded.

"Alright…"

( 0 0 0 )

Slowly, Su eased Shinobu's door open, slipping inside and closing it behind her. "I'm back," she whispered gently, hurrying to the girl's bedside and putting a hand on her forehead. "Oh, you're burning up," she whispered. "Shinobu, I should call som-"

"N-no," Shinobu gasped, sitting halfway up in bed before Su quickly urged her back down. "Have to… get through this… it'll pas… always does…"

"How long?" Su asked, dipping a small washcloth into the bowl of water she had brought with her, dabbing Shinobu's face with a corner and flinching as the dark-haired girl's brow scrunched up in pain. "How much longer do you think you'll be sick, Shinobu? A… a couple… months…?"

It hurt as it came out, but she had to know if Naru was right.

"N-not much longer," Shinobu panted, swallowing hard as a bead of sweat ran down her face. "Already… took the last one…"

Su's heart skipped a beat. "Last wha-"

"I don't know… what's going to happen to me," Shinobu whimpered, cutting her off. "Su… you shouldn't… be near me. I don't know what's-"

Su reached out, putting her finger against the other girl's lips. "I'll always want to be near you," she said gently. "Go to sleep. Everything will look better in the morning."

_She took the last one,_ she thought. _Last… prenatal? Last… abortion pill? Last hit of X? _

Shinobu forced her eyes open, drawing Su's full attention.

"I'm scared…"

"Shh," Su whispered, "I'm right here. I won't let you go."

"Y…you can't help," Shinobu moaned miserably. "Su… you shouldn't-"

She cut herself off as a powerful chill ran through her body, but she somehow managed to force out a few more words.

"You shouldn't… be near me…"

Su stroked her forehead. "Don't be crazy," she teased softly. "I just said…"

She trailed off as she realized that Shinobu had passed out. Hesitating only a moment, she slipped into the dark-haired girl's bed and held her close as another wave of shivers ran through her slender body.

"I won't let you go."

Halfway through the night, Su was woken by the feel of Shinobu's body shaking from head to toe. The dark-haired girl shook her head from side to side, saliva running from the corner of her mouth as her eyes – open but unseeing – ran from left to right and an unbroken moan slipped from between her half-parted lips. As Su drew a breath to call for help, Shinobu abruptly relaxed, easing back down onto the bed with a long, low sigh.

Placing a hand on Shinobu's forehead, Su found it slick with sweat, but thankfully cool. _Thank god,_ she thought with some relief, _her fever's finally broken._

Pulling the sheet up to cover them both, Su wrapped Shinobu in a tight embrace and slipped off into a content sleep, confident in her last conscious thought.

_The worst is over._

Continued…

Hawker-748 preread.


	4. Emergence

Disclaimer: see part 1.

Stability

Part 5 – Emergence

By Random1377

Su woke feeling anxious, blinking the sleep from her eyes as the last remnants of her dream faded into the recesses of her mind – and considering how graphic her dreams had been, the recesses of her mind seemed to be fairly naughty. _Wow,_ she thought as she sat up and rubbed her eyes, _I don't think she would really DO that to me…_

A faint blush stood out on her cheeks as she looked down at the bedspread.

_Maybe if I asked her really nicely, she-_

"Morning, sleepyhead."

Looking up, Su found Shinobu standing by the window and smiling at her over one shoulder. "H-hi," she stammered, trying not to stare at the girl whose bed she had shared the night before. "You look… good."

'Good,' on second thought, really didn't cut it. With the early morning light coming in the window, and the outfit the girl was wearing, Su decided that Shinobu looked _damn_ good. Pushing the covers back, she slipped out of bed and walked over to where Shinobu stood, tentatively putting her hands on the other girl's hips and leaning against her back to be as close to her as possible.

"I love this shirt," she said honestly, closing her eyes and drinking in the physical closeness she was being allowed. "Isn't this the one that Kitsune bought you a couple years ago?"

"Mmm hmm," Shinobu hummed, resting her body casually against Su's chest. "I never liked the way it fit before, but I never threw it away because it cost too much. Now it fits like a glove."

A rather tight glove, Su mentally corrected. The shirt in question – a black, long-sleeved affair with a red cross directly in the center – had been purchased for a rather scrawny fifteen year old… and Shinobu was no longer fifteen _or_ scrawny.

"It's a little… small," Su observed, running her hands appreciatively over Shinobu's sides. "Don't you think?"

"Is that bad?" Shinobu whispered. "I thought you'd like the way it looked on me."

Su swallowed. _Is she… coming on to me?_

In the past couple of weeks, Su had kissed Shinobu a total of five times. She considered them to be dating, but – in a remarkable show of maturity for her – had not presumed to guess what Shinobu thought, and had not worked up the courage to actually ask. After all, if she left it vague, she could keep taking the occasional kiss, whereas if she asked outright, and Shinobu said she did not see her that way, things would end with violent, irrevocable crash.

But if Shinobu was the one making the move…

"No," Su murmured, putting a finger under Shinibu's chin and turning her head to the side, "it's not bad at all."

Slowly, she leaned forward and kissed the dark-haired girl. Or at least, she almost did. Her mouth hovered an inch or so away from Shinobu's, her heart hammering in her chest as a sudden uncertainty filed her. _What if she doesn't like this after all?_ she thought guiltily. _I mean, she's never said no… but she's never encouraged this, so what if she's just being nice because we're friends? That would be so Shinobu…_

"Hey," Shinobu whispered, speaking as calmly as if Su was standing five feet away, "I dreamed about you last night."

_I dreamed about you too,_ Su thought, her blush returning as she slowly closed her eyes. _But I don't think I can tell you the details._

"It was summer," Shinobu continued, her breath blowing warmly against Su's lips as she spoke. "It was just you and me down at the beach, but you kept telling me the water wasn't safe. I told you I wanted to swim, but you said if I did, I would get swept away and lost forever – and I knew you were right, and that you wanted to protect me, but the water looked so cool and green I couldn't keep my eyes off of it."

Swallowing, Su whispered, "So what happened?"

She trembled as she felt Shinobu turn around to face her fully.

"…I got in the water and let myself go."

"Mmmm…"

Su hummed softly as Shinobu took the initiative and gave her a slow, delicate kiss.

"But you tried," the dark-haired girl said warmly, breaking away and slipping her arms around Su's waist. "You tried so hard to save me. Even though it was a dream, you never let me go. Thanks."

"S-sure…"

Emboldened by Shinobu's encouraging display, Su put one hand on the small of her back and kissed her again, her dream coming back to her in vivid detail as Shinobu returned her embrace.

_What's happening to me?_ Su thought, pulling back after several satisfying moments. _I never used to think… about stuff like this. What's wrong with me?_

Shinobu slipped out of her arms, turning towards her closet as she said, "I've gotta get breakfast started. Maybe you should lie down here for a while, you look kind of flushed."

Su touched her cheeks, finding them very hot. "Yeah," she said softly, "I think I will."

As Shinobu pulled a pair of jeans out of her closet, Su sat down on the bed. Without the dark-haired girl in her arms, thinking was easier, and she managed to push away the immoral thoughts that keep threatening to dominate her mind. _Wow,_ she mused as Shinobu finished dressing, _I don't… feel like myself when I'm near her. I want,_ she swallowed, closing her eyes as her ears tried to focus on the sound of Shinobu's zipper sliding up, _the things I want… I don't even think Kitsune does that kind of stuff. When did I become such a pervert?_

"Hey."

Su opened her eyes, finding Shinobu crouching in front of her with a soft smile. "What is it?"

Shinobu put her hands on Su's knees, leaning closer and staring into the dark-skinned girl's face as she said, "Can you do something for me?"

"Ok," Su replied immediately, "I mean, if I can get time, you know, with school."

It was a lame cover, and she knew it, but for some reason, it bothered her that she was getting so responsive to Shinobu's presence. It wasn't really bad, per se, but the longer she looked into Shinobu's eyes, the more she felt like she was drowning. And then there was the matter of her increasingly erotic dreams – all revolving around the girl crouching at her feet and looking so innocently up into her eyes.

"It's not hard," Shinobu assured her. "I just need you to make something for me."

Su leaned closer, curious in spite of her misgivings. Invention was still her first passion, and regardless of her feelings of unease regarding how close she was getting to Shinobu, the idea of creating – of working with her hands and bringing into existence something that had never existed before – had one hundred percent of Su's attention.

Su frowned as Shinobu described what she wanted. "Well, it shouldn't be hard," she said slowly, "but why would- mm…"

Shinobu leaned forward and kissed her, cutting off her question for several long moments, and when she broke away, Su had forgotten that she should care why Shinobu would need the type of device she had asked her to make.

( 0 0 0 )

Kitsune hummed a show tune as she came into the kitchen, nodding a hello to Shinobu as she pulled the refrigerator open and rooted around for a cold beer. _Guess I could just go down to the café,_ she reasoned, _but it's so much easier to raid the fridge here._

Pulling out a bottle of Boa, Kitsune shut the fridge and glanced over at Shinobu. "Hey," she said, "breakfast was really good today."

Shinobu, who was in the process of eating a peach, smiled and replied, "Thanks. I wasn't sure if everyone would like it because I made it milder than I usually do."

Kitsune twisted her bottle open and took the seat opposite Shinobu. "Normally, I wouldn't," she confided, "you know I like spicier stuff, but today it was really good without being overpowering. You're getting really good."

Taking a bite of her peach, Shinobu simply said, "Thanks, Kitsune."

For a few minutes, neither spoke.

_She looks better,_ Kitsune thought as she took a sip of her beer. _No, calmer. For the past few weeks, she's been either feverish or just downright weird, but it looks like she's gotten herself back together. _

Shinobu, she noticed, was enjoying her peach very much, taking big bites and chewing for a long time before swallowing. There was a tiny piece of peach on the younger girl's cheek, and on anyone else, Kitsune would have pointed it out… but on Shinobu, it looked so cute that Kitsune said nothing.

_She's grown up so much,_ the fox girl mused, _she's matured, gotten less whiny – and look at how she fills out that shirt! Cute? Hell, our little girl's gotten hot!_

Kitsune studied Shinobu for quite some time, forgetting her beer after a few sips and simply taking in every detail of how much the dark-haired girl had developed since they had first met. Shinobu, in turn, studied her back, setting her peach down when it was half finished and resting her chin on her palm as her Kitsune's eyes locked onto hers.

_If you are screwing around, _Kitsune thought suddenly, _that is one lucky guy._

"What are you thinking about?"

Blinking, Kitsune realized that she had been staring fixedly into Shinobu's eyes for over two minutes. "Umm, nothing," she said quickly, "head's just empty – you know how I am, I'm shallow." She laughed and took a pull of her beer.

_Man,_ she thought suddenly, _I'm really… God, I need to stop drinking in the afternoons._

"I don't think you're shallow," Shinobu said earnestly. "You just like everyone to think that, so you don't have to worry about letting everyone down by taking on too much responsibility."

Kitsune gaped. "Wait a minute, what?"

"I'm taking psych this semester," Shinobu informed her. "I'm supposed to observe the people around me and record what I see." She smiled timidly. "How did I do?"

For a very long moment, Kitsune said nothing. _I don't… think like that,_ she told herself uncomfortably. _I mean, yeah, I guess I'm not REALLY shallow, but I…_

She let the thought trail off as Shinobu stretched her arms up over her head, causing the tightness of her shirt to accentuate her still-maturing body.

_I knew I should have bought that shirt for myself,_ she lamented sullenly, _just looking at it, you can't help but think about sex…_

Kitsune realized with a start that she was growing more and more antsy – a feeling she usually associated with moderate drinking, or an extended dry spell. The thing was, and she would never tell anyone at the Hinata Sou about it, she had a fairly active sex life. Not that she was sleeping around, or anything like that, but she felt that most of the residents (especially Naru) would frown on the fact that she had two steady lovers, and she reasoned that she got enough teasing for her drinking and gambling habits.

_I need to give Ryouji a call,_ she thought suddenly. _He's probably off today… and I doubt he'd say no if I asked to come over._

"Well," she said finally, "I can't really talk to you about it, Shinobu – I just remembered somewhere I'm supposed to be."

"Oh, ok," Shinobu said, sounding completely unsurprised as Kitsune rose to her feet. "Have fun."

Kitsune hesitated. _Does she… know?_ She looked closely at the Shinobu as the girl picked her peach up and took another bite. _No… no, she's just being polite – she's not psychic._

But in spite of this thought, she could not shake the notion that, while Shinobu might not know _where_ she was going, she definitely had at least an idea of what she was going to _do_.

And it did not sit well with her.

_Imagining things,_ she thought, leaving her beer behind as she made her way towards the front of the Sou, _maybe I'm getting senile in my old age._

Back in the kitchen, Shinobu sat finishing her peach and staring thoughtfully at the neglected bottle of beer.

( 0 0 0 )

Keitaro returned from the grocery store and found the Hinata Sou almost preternaturally quiet. He had passed Kitsune, who looked very distracted, on the stairs, and based on the time, Naru was still at work, but Shinobu and Su should have been making some kind of noise – provided, of course, that Shinobu was over her fever.

"Hello," he called tentatively, slipping his shoes off and padding towards the kitchen. "Anyone here?"

Pushing the kitchen door open, he nearly dropped the grocery bags as he found Shinobu sitting at the kitchen table and staring into space with a dreamy half-smile. It was only when he called her name that she actually took notice of him, and when she did, Keitaro found that her eyes were once again clear and bright.

"Oh, hi Sempai," she said warmly, dropping what looked like a peach pit into the garbage as she rose to her feet. "Let me help you with that."

Before Keitaro could wave her off – which would have been difficult, with his hands full – Shinobu was taking one of the bags from him, her warm, slim fingers brushing the back of his hand several times in the process and giving him an odd, uncomfortable feeling, as if she had been doing it on purpose.

"Umm, breakfast was good this morning."

Shinobu smiled, hoisting the grocery bag she had liberated from him and setting it on the kitchen table. "Thanks," she said absently. "Kitsune liked it too."

"Ah."

Extracting the groceries and lining them up on the table, Shinobu continued, "It came out better than I thought it would, really." She paused for a moment. "I think I'll try a few other things, too."

Keitaro nodded as he helped unpack the bags. "You're feeling better, I guess, huh?"

"Mm hmm," Shinobu hummed, putting a bag of sugar in one of the cupboards. "Fit as a fiddle and all that stuff. How are you, though? You look kind of tired."

Chuckling, Keitaro scratched the back of his neck. "Just… need more sleep, I guess."

He was not about to tell the girl who he used to tutor in math that his wife had suddenly developed what seemed to be an unquenchable desire to be intimate at every available opportunity.

_Only reason we're not doing it right now is because she's not here,_ he thought with a small frown. _When did this all start, anyway? God, it's been about-_

His thought was interrupted as Shinobu asked, "Do you want anything special for dinner?"

"Er, no, can't think of anything," Keitaro replied. "Just make whatever you want."

Shinobu stashed the last can of applesauce in the cupboard and brushed her hands together. "Whatever I want?" she said lightly. "Mmm… are you up for a surprise?"

Keitaro laughed, shaking his head as Shinobu dropped him a conspiratorial wink. "Yeah, sure," he chuckled, ruffling her hair playfully as she beamed at him. "Just keep it light, ok? Might have to do something er, strenuous, after dinner."

Offering him a salute, Shinobu replied, "I make no guarantees!"

Sharing another laugh, the two threw away the grocery bags and went their separate ways – Keitaro to work on the finances for the Hinata Sou, and Shinobu to sweep the halls on the second floor. As he closed the door to his room, Keitaro decided that he might just indulge in a little nap.

_I do need the rest, _he thought ruefully. _Man, whoever thought I'd have to worry about keeping up like this? It's embarrassing!_

Yawning, he flopped down onto the futon and threw an arm over his eyes, grinning as he recalled Shinobu's impish smile. It was nice, he mused as he drifted off to sleep, that everything was getting back to normal.

Continued…

Hawker-748 pre-read.


	5. Precipitation

Disclaimer: see part 1.

Stability

Part 6 – Precipitation

By Random1377

Kitsune leaned back from the table with a satisfied sigh. "Now that," she said approvingly, "was a dinner."

Those who had finished nodded, gazing a little disappointedly at the empty pot on the stove from which the fine soup had come. Su, in particular, looked the most dejected, until Shinobu pushed the remaining half of her bowl across the table with a warm smile.

"Yeah," Naru piped in, licking her spoon before pushing her empty bowl to the side, "what's the deal, Shinobu? You've always been a good cook, but lately… lately you've been like, a culinary genius or something. What gives?"

Shinobu laughed, rising to her feet and gathering up the bowls to bring to the sink. "It's a secret," she said conspiratorially. "I'm glad you liked it, though… I wasn't sure everyone would."

The residents protested that there was no way they could _not_ like such a fine meal.

Shinobu beamed.

"What kind of meat was in there, anyway?" Keitaro wondered suddenly. "It was so tender and full of flavor, but I couldn't figure out what it tasted like."

Depositing the bowls in the sink, Shinobu replied, "Oh, let's make it a guessing game – whoever can figure out what it was, I'll give them an extra piece of this chocolate torte I made."

All eyes focused on the dessert as the girl pulled it out of the fridge.

"So that's why you wouldn't let me get my own drink," Kitsune muttered, eyeing the layered treat with greedy eyes as Shinobu turned it in a slow circle. "That second piece is mine – it was venison, wasn't it?"

"Nope," Shinobu said, setting the torte at the head of the table and pulling a large butcher knife out of the knife block. "You're out. Next?"

As Kitsune pouted, Sarah said, "Oh, oh – was it steak? It was, wasn't it? You're just trying to make us think it was something else, right?"

Shinobu laughed. "Nope, next?"

The guesses went around the room without success until Ema timidly raised a hand and said, "It… it kind of tasted like turtle…"

Kitsune, who was sitting closest to Shinobu, blinked as she noticed the younger girl's hand tighten spasmodically around the handle of the knife. "Turtle?" Shinobu echoed. "That's… that's a good guess. I didn't think anyone had had turtle soup before. I keep forgetting that I don't know you that well."

"S-sorry…"

Everyone congratulated the newest resident on her success, and as promised, she was given a second piece of desert… though somehow, Kitsune managed to convince her to share, and everyone ended up having a bite of it.

"Speaking of turtles," Keitaro said as soon as the plates had been cleared away, "I should feed Tama-chan."

"Oh, I'll take care of it," Shinobu said lightly, giving Naru a significant glance as she assed, "I think your wife wants to talk to you about something."

Indeed, Naru kept looking pointedly at Keitaro, then the door – making it very clear that he should be walking through it – and fidgeting with her fork as if there was something else she would much rather be doing.

"Ah, yeah," Keitaro chuckled weakly. "Well, I'll leave it to you, then."

"Newlyweds," Kitsune snorted as the two slipped unsubtly out of the room. "Where do they get the energy?"

Stacking the last of the dishes in the sink, Shinobu shrugged. "They're in love," she said smoothly, pushing her sleeves up as the other residents filed out, leaving her alone with Kitsune. "Love makes you do weird things."

Kitsune frowned, but said nothing. Something was on her mind, but the kitchen was not the most conducive place for thinking, so she bid Shinobu goodnight and headed to bed, her mind slowly turning over a very strange, very abstract notion that simply refused to leave her alone.

The soup really _had_ been good.

( 0 0 0 )

Motoko reached out and slowly flipped her laptop closed, satisfied with her work for the evening and looking forward to slipping into bed for a good night's sleep. _Too bad I have a test to study for, _she thought glumly. _Spent too much time on writing again._

As a published novelist, daily writing was important… but as a third year Todai student, studying was important too, and so far, she had not managed to find a good balance between the two.

_Linguistics, huh?_ she thought, pulling out her copy of Langauge – its Structure and Use from the large bookbag she carried too and from school. _I should see if Naru still has her notes from this one – morphology just kills me!_

It was a vain hope, she knew, as Naru had ritualistically burned all of her school books and notes the day after graduation, deaf to the pleas of the younger residents as she muttered, 'Trust me, once you're done, you'll be doing the same thing.'

Motoko was tempted to touch a match to the pages already, and she still had a year and a half to go.

She looked up, more thankful than annoyed as someone knocked on her door. "It's open."

The door slid open, revealing the cook of the evening meal bearing a small, apologetic smile. "Hi," Shinobu said timidly, "I just wanted to apologize for dinner… I know you don't like turtles, and-"

"I don't like slimy, creepy, _living_ turtles," Motoko cut in gently. "Cooked ones, on the other hand, I have no problem with."

"Oh, thank goodness."

They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment, and Motoko had to prompt, "Was there something else?" to get Shinobu talking again, as she instinctively sensed that there was more on the girl's mind.

"I… have a question," Shinobu began slowly, "but it's kind of weird, and I don't want to bother you."

"Weirder than apologizing for cooking a turtle?" Motoko asked, arching an eyebrow. "Go ahead, Shinobu."

"It's about fighting."

Motoko frowned. "Fighting? Are you in trouble, Shin-"

"No, no," Shinobu said, "just… it's for a history class – war of 1812… practical application stuff."

"Oh," Motoko blinked. "Your teacher's weird. Well, whatever… what's the question?"

"Umm, ok, so, I was wondering," Shinobu said slowly, "if you were in a fight with a bunch of people, and they were all trying to beat you… who would you attack first?"

"Well," Motoko admitted, "I've never fought a bunch of people at once… we just spar one-on-one in Kendo."

"If you had to, though," Shinobu insisted, "how would you do it?"

Motoko shrugged. "Sun Tzu says to attack your strongest adversary first," she mused. "I guess that's the best advice there is on the subject."

"Sun Tzu?" Shinobu asked. "Hey, you have his book over there, don't you?"

Crossing over to Motoko's desk, Shinobu ran her finger along the spine of a well-read copy of _The Art of War._ Motoko nodded, opening her mouth to say that she had read it over fifteen times, but something in the way Shinobu moved caught her attention.

"Are you… you're not wearing a bra, are you?"

Shinobu shook her head. "I had one on, but I took it off."

"Why?"

"I just like the feel of the cloth on my skin. Haven't you ever just… liked the feel of something?"

Motoko shifted in her seat. "Well, of course," she said awkwardly, "but you can't just run around… unencumbered like that."

"Unencumbered," Shinobu said, rolling the word around in her mouth as if getting a taste for it. "I like the way that sounds. I always like the words you use, Motoko – I think it makes you a better writer to know all of those fancy words."

Flustered, Motoko said, "Thank you, Shinobu, but still, you shouldn't go around without a bra on. It isn't appropriate. What if Keitaro saw you like that?"

Tilting her head to one side, Shinobu replied, "I'm sure he's still… talking to Naru right now, and I'm going straight to bed, so I won't see him in the hall or anything. What's the big deal, anyway? You don't wear a bra."

"I bind myself," Motoko reminded her. "And when I'm not in a gi, I do wear a bra."

"All the time?"

"Yes, all the time."

Shinobu leaned closer, putting her mouth right next to Motoko's ear. "_All_… the time?" she whispered. "Even in your room…? Even when no one can see you…? You don't… just take it off so you can feel your shirt rubbing up against you?"

Motoko shifted again. "I don't… go through the halls without one," she said, choosing her words very carefully and elegantly sidestepping the question of rubbing. "And I don't think you should either."

"Well, I can't borrow one of yours," Shinobu pointed out evenly. "They're way too big for me." She giggled suddenly, her warm breath tickling Mokoto's ear as she said, "You could bind me, if you want – would that make you feel better about me walking the three doors down to my room? I've always kind of wanted to know what it's like to be wrapped up tight like that, and – oh, that reminds me! Someone at school said that when a girl binds herself up like that, she's committing herself even more to the sword because the bindings are like the arms of a lover. Is that the way you feel, Motoko?"

"Who… who said that?" Motoko wondered, trying to think of anyone in Shinobu's class that would have a handle on an advanced kendo concept like that.

_The arms of a lover, huh?_ she thought as Shinobu rattled off some meaningless name. _I wouldn't know. God, I haven't even had a kiss for… ugh, I don't want to think about it._

It was true that she had dedicated herself to the blade, but nowhere in the God's Cry School code of conduct did it forbid the taking of a lover. It was discouraged, of course (a kendoist's first love must be the sword) but Motoko knew of several women, her sister included, who indulged in the pleasures of the flesh from time to time with no diminishment of their skills.

And truth be told, bindings were a pale comparison to flesh and blood.

"Just… make sure Keitaro doesn't see you like that," she said, realizing that she had not spoken for several moments. "Or worse yet, Naru. She's gotten… territorial lately."

Shinobu nodded and leaned against Motoko's desk, pulling the Sun Tzu book out and leafing through the pages with her bottom lip caught firmly between her teeth. _I can't blame Naru, either, _Motoko though, _I'd be doing it as much as she was, if I – whoa, what am I thinking?_

"Something wrong, Motoko?"

Motoko shook her head, rising to her feet as she found her mind filled with more and more graphic visions of the Hinata Sou's manager. "Nothing," she mumbled, "just… gonna go exercise for a while. Need to… burn off some energy before I go to sleep."

Shinobu set the book down. "What kind of energy?"

"What?"

"What kind of energy?" Shinobu repeated. "Are you tense or something? You want me to rub your shoulders?"

Motoko shivered as Shinobu laid her hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to do that," she said, finding it harder and harder to think of the blade as Shinobu began to work at her muscles. "Shinobu, I'm fine – I just need to go work out for a while, that's all."

Shinobu simply continued massage her shoulders, humming softly to herself as she coaxed Motoko's muscles into a soft, nearly liquid state. "Naru has gotten pretty touchy lately, hasn't she?" the younger girl said after a few minutes. "It's not like she's got anything to worry about, right?"

"Right," Motoko whispered absently, losing her focus entirely as her libido kicked into overdrive. "She's married… she's… getting what she needs…"

Motoko's thoughts grew hazy and diffuse as the fantasy brewing in her mind gained in detail and strength. _Ohhh_ _leave me alone, Shinobu,_ she thought with sudden frustration. _I have to… get rid of this energy._

The manner of release had shifted. Motoko was no longer in a hurry to get to the roof and exercise – the need to relieve the growing tension inside of her had reached a point where averting it would no longer be enough.

_Why doesn't she get out?_

Behind the swordswoman, Shinobu smiled faintly.

"Can I borrow your book?"

"H-huh?"

"Your book," Shinobu said, taking her hands away from Motoko's shoulders. "Your war book."

"Oh, sure," Motoko mumbled, quickly rising to her feet and grabbing the book off of the table. "Here, take it. Well, goodnight."

Shinobu thanked her as she was hustled to the door and all but shoved out.

She stood in the hallway for several more minutes, however, perusing the little book Motoko had given her and smiling her small, content smile as Motoko quietly took care of her needs.

( 0 0 0 )

Su stood with one hand raised, trying to decide if she should knock on Shinobu's door or not. Moonlight spilled through the second floor window, casting everything in a pale, unearthly glow.

She wanted to go in. It scared her how badly she wanted to go in.

Or rather, what she wanted to do once she was inside scared her. _So hard to think,_ she mused, slowly letting her hand fall to her side. _I want… what do I want? I can't tell anymore – I don't know what to feel. I know what I WANT, but it's… it feels all wrong – all twisted up inside. I'm so confused…_

Surety of action was always one of Su's hallmarks. Had anyone been able to listen in on her thoughts at that moment, they would have been shocked and more than a little alarmed to hear her admit to confusion.

_Just go to bed,_ she thought firmly, _YOUR bed, Su, not her bed. Get your mind out of the gutter before you do something you'll regr-_

"Su."

The sound of her own name, and Su was lost.

"Is there something you need?" Shinobu asked, walking up behind Su and wrapping her arms around the other girl's shoulders. "You're shaking like a leaf, Su… what's wrong?"

"I… I…"

Trapped in the dark-haired girl's embrace, conscious thought became impossible.

"I was hoping I'd see you tonight."

Su trembled uncontrollably as Shinobu pressed herself closer. "W-were you?"

Shinobu gently kissed the nape of her neck. "I was thinking about you all day," she said, putting one hand lightly on Su's stomach and reaching out to pull her door open. "Thinking about… spending more time with you."

"O-oh…"

"Did you make what I wanted you to make?"

"Uh…huh…" Su breathed, "it's in my… pocket."

Su stiffened as Shinobu's hand slipped into her pocket.

"Woops," she giggled, "wrong side."

For a very long moment, neither spoke, and the tension in Su's body redoubled as Shinobu, rather than pulling her hand out, pressed herself even closer and kissed her softly on the side of the neck.

"Give it to me later," she said dreamily. "Right now, why don't we try…"

The rest of Shinobu's words seemed to move across Su's eardrum and seep into her mind like warm, melting chocolate. Su nodded, her heart hammering in her chest as Shinobu's hand slowly settled over it.

_It's not… right…_

Like a panicked scream, this last rational thought passed through Su's mind… but then Shinobu was kissing her, and there was no more room for anything rational.

Continued…

Hawker-748 pre-read this chapter.


	6. Spinneret

Disclaimer: see part 1.

Stability

Part 7 – Spinneret

By Random1377

With a loud crash, the china dish that Naru's parents had given her as a wedding present tumbled off of its hanging pegs and fell to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces, some big, some small, as the girl who had been dusting it let out a strangled cry of dismay.

"Ouch," Kitsune, who had been passing by at the time, winced. "Ema, what-"

"What was that?"

Ema shrank back as Naru stormed out of her bedroom, her eyes flashing immediately to the broken plate as her hands tightened into fists at her side.

"I didn't… I just put it back up," the younger girl said quickly. "Just like I always do – it just… it just fell!"

Kitsune could tell that Naru was furious, but to the other woman's credit, she contained it very well. "It was an accident," Naru said stiffly, forcing her hands to unclench, "don't worry about it."

"I'm so sorry," Ema babbled, scrambling to pick up the pieces of the plate. "I didn't mean – ow!"

_Of course,_ Kitsune thought, rolling her eyes as the younger girl clutched her hand to her chest, red blossoming in her palm as a shard of china dropped to the floor with a flat tinkling sound. _Who couldn't see that coming? _She shot Naru a glance, finding the manager's wife just concealing a satisfied smile. _Nothing like immediate revenge, is there?_ she thought, spying Shinobu at the foot of the stairs and motioning for her to come up. _Well, this way she won't hold any hard feelings… Ema's been 'punished' for breaking the plate._

"Get some bandages, would you?" she said as soon as Shinobu had reached the landing. "Ema's cut herself."

Shinobu nodded, glancing down at the shattered china with a look of dismay as she whispered, "Oh Naru… your plate…!"

"I put it back just like I always do," Ema practically sobbed. "It just… it just fell!"

"Aww!" Shinobu cried. "It's ok, Naru's not mad, right?" She gave Naru a sunny smile. "We'll get it cleaned up, Naru."

"Mm."

Kitsune watched as Shinobu began to move around the area, carefully pushing the shards into a small pile to avoid having anyone step on them, then checking Ema's hand and clucking with concern like a mother hen at the small cut and leading the girl off to find a bandage and a broom.

It was so subtle that Kitsune almost missed it – and even when she noticed it, she almost dismissed it – but the longer Shinobu held Ema's hand, the more uncomfortable the girl seemed to get. _Not uncomfortable,_ she corrected, _more like…_

The thought trailed off – more out of pure improbability than anything else – leaving Kitsune eyeing Naru… though this brought the same thought into sharper focus as she found the other woman absently chewing on her finger and staring off into space with a dreamy, reminiscent expression on her face.

"What'cha thinking about?"

Naru blinked, taking her finger out of her mouth and wiping it absently on her shorts. "Nothing," she lied, glancing around as if realizing where she was. "Why?"

Kitsune simply shrugged, shaking her head as Shinobu returned with a broom, smiling warmly to both women before setting about the task of sweeping up the mess. _It can't be, _she thought, taking a step closer, _it's just… that can't be…!_

"Is something wrong, Kitsune?" Shinobu asked as Kitsune moved another step closer, staring intently at her as she set the dustpan down. "Do I have something on my face?"

Glancing at Naru, Kitsune shook her head, paying very close attention to the way the woman shifted on her feet and looked around with increasing distraction. _Like she's looking for someone…_

Kitsune wet her lips. "It's nothing," she said, forcing down a sudden, vivid image of the last night she had spent with Ryouji. "Nothing at all."

_Get away,_ she thought sharply. _Get away from her… out of her sight… where she can't touch you… where you can't… smell her…_

Nearly stumbling backward, Kitsune excused herself, hurrying to her room and shutting the door as she tried to focus her thoughts, but she had spent too much time near the younger girl, and could no longer think of anything but taking care of her personal needs.

_Not… possible,_ she thought, fighting against the urge to pick up the phone and call her lover for an afternoon fling. _This is impossible…_

Swallowing with some difficulty, she found the feelings gradually receding, finally leaving her clearheaded enough to whisper, "What the hell is going on?"

( 0 0 0 )

Naru yawned and stretched her arms up over her head, sprawling full-length on the couch as she luxuriated in the simple glory of being alive, in love, and very, very active in the bedroom. There was a corner of her mind that was still incredulous over the way her newlywed days were playing out, but it was vastly overshadowed by the needs and wants of her body, which more often than not over-ruled her higher brain functions.

She was not missing work or anything like that, but she was spending a lot of time when she was at home in enjoying her husband's company.

_And why shouldn't I?_ she asked herself as there was a firm knock on the front door. _That's the way it is when you're first married, right? I don't care what Kitsune says, this isn't 'weird.'_

Realizing that no one was answering the door, she reluctantly got to her feet and walked to the front door. "Yes?" she asked as she found a stranger standing on the other side. "Can I help you?"

The woman, a tall redhead, reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, white business card, offering it to Naru as she said, "Is this where Shinobu Maehara lives?"

Naru took the card, but it was completely white on both sides, with only the raised word, _Weismann, _to prevent it from being completely devoid of feature. "Er, yeah," she said finally, "but she's out shopping right now. Can I give her a message or-"

"Oh, that won't be necessary," the woman said with a false smile, glancing around the foyer of the Hinata Sou as she took a discrete step back. "This is an all-girls dorm, correct?"

"Umm, yeah," Naru replied, starting to get annoyed by the rudeness of this intruder. "Look, does Shinobu know you, or-"

The woman cut in once more. "Yes, she knows me," she said, once more flashing her white, fake smile, "in a professional aspect."

Naru looked her up and down. "Are you a doctor?" she ventured, noting the woman's rather expensive skirt and blouse.

A small increase in the woman's smile struck Naru as amused. "Yes," she replied smoothly, "I've been seeing Miss Maehara for a… certain condition for the past month and a half, but she missed her latest appointment."

_I knew it! _Naru thought triumphantly. _She is preg-_

Not satisfied, it seemed, with just interrupting her speech, the woman interrupted Naru's thoughts as well, reaching out and plucking the business card from her fingers as she said, "I'll have my… nurse call her to reschedule. No need to tell her I was here."

Naru frowned. "But who are y-"

"Have a nice day."

Turning on her heel, the woman walked away, ignoring Naru's indignant call for her to wait and striding purposefully down the stairs to the Hinata Sou without a backward glance.

( 0 0 0 )

Something was in the air.

The atmosphere in the Hinata Sou was charged and restless, and no matter where Su went, the evidence was there, percolating just barely under the surface. From Motoko's room, where the swordswoman was hammering her laptop with almost religious fixation, to the upstairs hall, where Ema was sweeping and trying her best not to bump into anything fragile, the entire building crackled with an odd sort of energy that set the dark-skinned girl's teeth on edge.

_Everything's… wrong,_ she thought, wandering down the stairs and into the living room as Ema fumbled the broom and dropped it with a cry of dismay. _She's jumpier than ever,_ Su mused, listening as Shinobu's voice assured the younger girl that nothing was broken. _Ever since that plate, she's been all thumbs – and she was pretty clumsy before. Naru's making her nervous, and…_

Su's thoughts trailed off at the sound of a light snore. Smiling softly, she tiptoed into the living room and glanced down, finding Keitaro dozing fitfully on the couch with one arm thrown over his eyes and the other hanging down onto the floor, his fingers twitching slightly as his subconscious sent misplaced signals for movement to their tips.

"Better cover up, Keitaro," she whispered, taking the small blanket off of the couch and draping it gently over the manager's chest. "It's a little chilly today…"

_I could use a little nap myself,_ she mused, sitting down on the floor in front of the couch and resting her head next to Keitaro's side. _Haven't been sleeping much lately._ _Got to get it together._

She closed her eyes, wondering what the napping man would think of her if he knew why she was so tired. She supposed that he would disapprove, and tried to tell herself that she didn't care, but the idea of him looking shocked (as he would if he knew the truth) then embarrassed, and finally ashamed, made her feel like dying.

Everyone in the building knew why Keitaro was tired, of course. Naru was not quiet or, after the first few weeks of marriage, was she careful about closing the door to the bedroom. Keitaro usually made up for this, but there was not a soul in the Hinata Sou that had not come very close to seeing something they shouldn't have, saved only by the extra volume the jarred door provided as warning.

But they were newlyweds. If the same thing happened with her and Shinobu – God forbid – Su could not even guess what people would think of them. She did not care, of course, what the opinion of herself was, but if people started hating Shinobu because of her, it would be unbearable.

_Just need to be careful,_ Su thought, feeling some of the tension bleed out of her as Keitaro's soft, even breathing relaxed her. _Always close the door… never be too loud… check the hall before… sneaking out…_

She blushed at this last thought.

Sneaking. She was sneaking around. The connotations – the implications – of this simple statement would have made even her weak in the knees, had she been standing.

_Amalla_ _never snuck around,_ she told herself guiltily. _She always let everyone know if she had a lover. Well, then again… that's why she's not the next in line for the thro-_

"Pst, Su."

Su's entire body jerked as a hand covered her mouth. "Mph!"

"Shh – it's me, Kitsune," a soft voice whispered. "Come here a sec, would you?"

Blinking the near-sleep from her eyes, Su nodded, rising reluctantly from her comfortable spot and following the gray-haired girl into the kitchen. "What is it?" she yawned. "Is something wrong?"

Kitsune frowned, holding up a small piece of wood. "What do you make of this?"

Su stared blankly for a moment before murmuring, "A stick?"

Clucking in frustration, Kitsune held the object closer. "It's a peg."

"Right," Su said, feeling very confused, "a stick."

"No," Kitsune said with some irritation, "it's a _peg_ – the kind you hold a plate up with."

Refocusing her attention on the peg, Su nodded. "Ok, it's a peg, then."

"Anything look strange about it?"

Su tilted her head to one side, then the other, studying the peg from every angle before shaking her head. "Looks like wood to me."

"I know it's wood!" Kitsune snapped. "_Look_ at it! Don't you think it looks like it's been cut?"

Pursing her lips, Su replied, "Not really. It looks _broken_, but-"

"Look closer," Kitsune cut in urgently, thrusting the peg closer. "See the edges? They're all smooth – like someone filed them. The middle is all ragged, like it snapped, but all _around_ there… it looks like someone took a nail file to it."

Skeptically, Su took the peg and ran her finger along the edge. "That's just where the plate hit it," she said finally. "See, the plate sits on top, and pushes down on the wood… so after a while, it makes a groove."

Kitsune looked triumphant. "Yes," she said eagerly, "after a few _years_, that could happen, if the plate is heavy… but this was under a little, tiny china plate – and they didn't put it up until a few weeks after the wedding, so it can't have been on the wall for more than two months at the most!"

Taking another, closer look at the peg, Su whispered, "Maybe… they got the pegs used, then?"

Hesitating, Kitsune said, "I didn't think of that – but if they were brand new, and I'm going to ask Naru once she's in a better mood about all of this, then… someone filed it down so it would break the next time someone put enough weight on it."

Su still felt skeptical. "Who?" she wondered. "More importantly, why? What you're saying just doesn't make sense."

"I know," Kitsune admitted reluctantly. "I know it doesn't, I just… I got to thinking about how the plate fell, and I just couldn't leave it alone." She stared into Su's eyes for a moment before whispering, "The other peg is like new. Just this one broke."

The two women considered the broken peg for a moment.

"There's… something else."

Refocusing on Kitsune's face, Su easily picked up on her awkwardness. "What is it?"

"Lately," Kitsune began hesitantly, "have you been… I mean, when you think about… about guys, I mean have you… lately… aw screw it – have you been 'in the mood' more lately?"

Su's eyes widened, and she immediately thought, _She_ _knows!_ but she smoothed her expression into one of slightly perplexed neutrality.

"In the mood for what?"

Kitsune eyed her closely for a moment before waving one hand. "Never mind, never mind," she muttered angrily. "It's… no, it's nothing… gotta be my imagination. Forget it."

"Ok."

The two looked at each other for a few moments before Kitsune excused herself and headed towards the front door to start her shift at the tea house. As soon as the older woman was gone, Su hurried up to Shinobu's room, thinking, _Kitsune would only ask about that kind of stuff if she suspects something… so we'll have to be even more careful than before._

Shinobu, she found, was grateful for the heads up, and agreed that they needed to be even more subtle than before.

When Su mentioned, almost as an afterthought, Kitsune's idea that someone had filed down the peg holding Naru's dish up on the wall, Shinobu looked so horrified about it that Su had to keep her from running and telling Naru about it herself, cementing in Su's mind the solidity of the dark-haired girl's almost tangible need to comfort others and making her love the girl just that much more.

Continued…

Hawker-748 preread yet again.


	7. Decay

Disclaimer: see part 1.

Stability

Part 8 – Decay

By Random1377

Keitaro woke with a start, blinking in the dark of the evening as he tried to figure out where he was. _Living room?_ he thought, rubbing at a crick in his neck and looking around at the familiar furniture. _Oh that's right, I fell asleep on the couch._ A frown twisted his face. _Kinda_ _surprised Naru didn't come find me._

Glancing suddenly at the chair across from the couch, Keitaro realized that he was not alone. In the dim light of the moon, he could see Shinobu curled up in the chair, resting her head on her arms and dozing lightly, though Keitaro had the oddest feeling that she had been watching him only a moment before.

_Weird,_ he mused. _I wonder why I thought that._

"Shinobu?"

"Mm? Oh, hi…" Shinobu yawned, stretching her back and rubbing her eyes with both hands. "What time is it?"

Keitaro glanced at his watch. "10:15," he said softly. "I wonder where everyone is. It's kind of late for everyone to be in bed already."

He looked away as Shinobu shrugged, trying not to stare at her less-than-substantial outfit. _Why is she wearing that…?_

The outfit in question – a white tank top and a pair of loose-fitting shorts – was very distracting, drawing his eyes almost magnetically to her chest… which he noticed quite quickly was held in check only by the thin fabric of the shirt.

_God, don't people wear bras around here anymore?_

Glancing up to her eyes, Keitaro found her looking right at him. "Did you sleep well?" she asked lightly, leaning forward to scratch the top of her foot and giving him an unobstructed view down the front of her shirt.

"Uh, yeah, great," he stammered, quickly pulling his eyes away as Shinobu once more looked up into his eyes.

Everything about her aspect and attitude struck him as calculatedly seductive – an idea that was so absurd he nearly laughed out loud. _Shinobu, right,_ he thought disgustedly. _Now Kitsune flashing her chest, yeah, that's calculated… but Shinobu? Come on, man, your wife's got you thinking with your-_

"Did you dream?"

"Huh?"

"Dream," Shinobu repeated, leaning forward and exposing herself even more as she rested her elbows on her knees and cradled her chin in her palms. "I had one while I was asleep."

"Oh yeah?" Keitaro asked, keeping his eyes pasted to the wall behind her left shoulder. "About what?"

"I don't really remember the details," she said, "but it was… wow, remember about three years ago? That time we were studying in that hotel room?"

"Yeah."

"Well, we were there again," she said slowly, "only I was like I am now, and… and we were talking, I think…" she frowned faintly. "I think we were doing something else, too, but I don't remember what…"

Keitaro just stared.

_Are you kidding me?_ he thought incredulously. _You and me in a hotel, talking and doing… something else?_ He looked around for Kitsune, suddenly sure that he was being put on. _Is this for real?_

"Is it hot in here?"

Refocusing on Shinobu, Ketiaro realized that she was covered in a light coat of sweat – as if she had recently been exercising, or was wearing a parka. It was a warm evening, since it was the height of summer, but not _that_ warm.

"Actually, I'm kinda cold," Keitaro replied honestly, glancing back at the couch. "Did you cover me up?"

Shinobu's eyes flicked to the blanket that had been covering him when he woke up. "Yes," she replied smoothly. "You looked like you were cold."

_But you just said you were too ho­-_

"Keitaro," Shinobu said hesitantly, "can you… can you fix this?"

Keitaro frowned as the dark-haired girl picked up a small, round chunk of plastic from the end table and offered it out to him with an expression of embarrassment. "A smoke detector?" he wondered. "What happened to it?"

"Well," Shinobu's embarrassment grew. "It was chirping – you know, making that little beep because the battery was low – and I… I couldn't get it off the wall, and when I did, I dropped it, and it broke. I'm sorry."

"It fell?" Keitaro wondered, examining the shattered plastic with a critical eye.

_Looks more like it was stepped on to me…_

"Down the stairs," Shinobu clarified. "The sound was hurting my ears so bad it just… slipped…"

Keitaro set the broken smoke detector on the table. "I'll see what I can do," he said doubtfully, "but I think it's a lost cause."

"Oh…"

They stared at the device for several moments in contemplative silence before Keitaro said, "Hey, have you seen Tama-chan? I went to feed him this morning and I couldn't find him anywhere."

Shinobu smiled. "He was in the hot springs about an hour ago," she said, pointing over her shoulder in the general direction of the outdoor bath. "Do you want me to see if he's still there?"

"No, that's ok," Keitaro said, "it's just… he's always around somewhere, but lately, I just haven't seen him."

"Well I have," Shinobu shrugged, grinning suddenly as she added, "I'll tell him you're looking for him."

Keitaro laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he chuckled, "I'll just-"

Abruptly, Shinobu's pocket began to vibrate. Blushing, she turned away. "Could you excuse me?" she asked, reaching into her pocket as she started for the kitchen. "I've got to answer this."

"When did you get a cell phone?" Keitaro wondered, but Shinobu was already moving through the door, clearly in a hurry to speak to whoever was calling her.

_Huh…_

He ran his fingers over the smoke detector, trying to decide if he could believe that the damage to the device could have been incurred by a simple fall. He was not given too much of a chance to think, however, as Naru appeared at the door, wearing a rather thin nightgown and a soft, sleepy smile.

"Hey," she said warmly, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around him from behind. "Have a nice nap?"

"Wasn't bad," Keitaro admitted, "I just-"

He cut himself off as Naru's grip on him suddenly tightened. "Did Ema break that?"

"The smoke detector?"

"Yeah."

Keitaro shook his head. "No, Shinobu knocked it off the wall when she was trying to change the battery."

There was a moment of silence before Naru whispered, "Ema broke something else of mine. You know that really nice pencil set my students gave me last semester? She stepped on it! She said it was just in the middle of the floor, but I know I left it in our room, and-"

"Easy," Keitaro cut in gently, seeing that his wife was building to a righteous fever. "I'm sure it was an accident, Naru – why would she deliberately break it?"

"Why would she break my plate?"

"That was an accident!"

"Was it?"

Keitaro studied her flushed face for a moment, marveling that the woman seemed to have lost the ability to express anything but two emotions lately – rage and…

"Let's go to bed."

_Well,_ Keitaro thought as Naru seized his hand, _better this than having her beat poor little Ema up for something she didn't do. Still, it is kind of strange about the pencil set. I wonder if…_

Upon reaching their room, Naru made sure he was not able to think about the subject anymore.

( 0 0 0 )

Pieces. There were pieces everywhere Kitsune looked – like a giant, living jigsaw puzzle… but damned if she could make them all fit together. Her problem was further complicated by the fact that she was having trouble thinking lately. This was, of course, one of the pieces of the puzzle, but knowing there _was_ a problem did not always equate to having a _solution_ for the problem.

_Ema,_ she thought, flipping absently through the channels as she pondered the events of the last couple weeks. _Shinobu_… _Naru… Motoko… everyone's acting weird, but no one wants to admit it._

Setting the remote down, Kitsune rested her chin on one knee and stared off into space, going over some events that she considered key. The first was the breaking of the plate, the pencil box and (as of four hours prior) Naru's favorite rice bowl – all at the hands, or feet, of the clumsy newcomer to the dorm.

Kitsune felt bad for the girl, as Naru's wrath had been firmly called down upon her. Naru never let the girl out of her sight when she was home, dogging her every step and scowling openly whenever Ema even came close to one of Naru's possessions, turning the already jittery teen into a ball of nervous energy.

Keitaro had been forced to confine her to washing and waxing the floors to make sure she didn't knock anything else off the walls.

_And then there's Sarah…_

No one had seen much of Sarah. She came out for meals, and to go to school, but otherwise, she was sequestered in her room, with the door locked, and very rarely even spoke when in the company of others. Kitsune would have given much to know what Sarah was doing, as she seemed more exhausted than Keitaro, but she had never been very close to the girl, and was therefore helpless to do anything but theorize what was going on.

Though if Sarah was suffering from the same increase in appetite, Kitsune could fairly well guess what she was doing with all of her free time.

_But it's IMPOSSIBLE!_ Kitsune thought, glancing briefly at the television as the evening news came on. _Is it something in the air? Something in the food? The water? What? Why is everyone in this house so… so… damn it, what is going ON?_

She scrubbed her hands through her hair, frustrated with the directionless nature of her thoughts. Though perhaps directionless was the wrong word, as there was a direction – and a name – her mind kept returning to.

"It's impossible," she said sullenly, turning the television up as the reporter on screen announced the arrest of a number of scientists at a nearby laboratory.

_No one sees it but me,_ Kitsune thought, losing interest in the news as a woman with flaming red hair was led to a waiting squad car. _She's about as pregnant as I am, goddamn it._

It was nothing based on fact, but Kitsune's gut insisted on it. When Keitaro had come home from fishing with Shirai and Hitani one day bearing a rather ungodly stink, Shinobu had gone running for the bathroom… and everyone else had glanced at each other and nodded as if this confirmed everything.

Everyone but Kitsune.

_Oh, something's up with her sense of smell,_ she thought, clicking the television off and throwing the remote on the couch. _Damn it… what is going on…?_

Nothing made sense. Thinking was hard… and Kitsune was starting to think of her boyfriend again. Nearly screaming with frustration, she stalked out of the house, hoping the fresh air would clear her head. When she returned, after visiting her boyfriend, she was calmer. It took less than forty minutes for her to start losing her focus again.

That night, she started sleeping in the tea shop, and with the advantage of distance, a few of the pieces began to come together.

( 0 0 0 )

Su stared out of one of the first floor window of the Hinata Sou, trying to figure out what had happened to her in the last five days. She knew, physically what had happened (she could recount that with one hundred percent detail) but she could not quite grasp how it had grown so intense, so fast.

And it was, she thought with a shiver, intense.

_Shinobu, _she thought with some wonder, _who would have thought it would end up this way? When I'm with you, I can't think… but I don't want to. It's like I'm drugged, or hypnotized, and the only way to break free is to leave the room – but I don't want to! It's so-_

Nothing… nothing in the young woman's experience could have prepared her for the sudden, ear-splitting shriek that split the air. Su was on her feet and moving seconds later, rushing through the house towards the source of the commotion… and she very nearly echoed the scream as she rounded the corner to the stairs and found Naru lying at the bottom with her arm twisted behind her at a decidedly unnatural angle.

"Oh… god…"

Su's gaze shot to the top of the stairs, her mouth falling open as she found Ema standing at the top, her eyes wide with shock as she stared down at the crumpled body at Su's feet.

Seconds later, Kitsune came skidding into the hall. "What's all the… Jesus Christ – call an ambulance! Su, call an ambulance right now!"

The paralysis that had gripped Su broke, and she tore through the halls to the phone, yanking it off the hook and dialing with frantic speed as more and more confused, frightened voices converged at the foot of the stairs.

"What hap-"

"Fell?"

"Naru? Can you hear-"

"How did-"

"-wiped it all up, I swear! I wiped all the wax-"

"Police dispatch, what is your emergency?"

Putting a finger in her free ear, Su concentrated on the voice at the other end of the line. "My friend," she said quickly, "my friend fell down the stairs… she's not moving… and there's blood… please, please hurry…!"

Time lost meaning as Su quickly gave the address and hung up the phone, hurrying back to the pandemonium at the bottom of the stairs. Ema, looking terrified to the point of petrifaction, stammered over and over that she did not know what had happened. It seemed that she had just finished cleaning the floors when Naru had slipped and fallen – but no matter how she was asked, she emphatically swore that she had definitely cleaned the last of the wax off of the hardwood.

Motoko, Su noticed suddenly, was holding Keitaro in a full-nelson type embrace, her face flushed with effort as she barely contained his desperate struggles.

The manager's eyes, Su noticed, were wide and fixed on Naru's body as Motoko repeatedly said, "She's breathing – Keitaro, she's breathing, but you can't touch her… I know you want to, but you can't… she could… we have to wait for the ambulance. Keitaro, please!"

It was disturbing to Su that Keitaro struggled in absolute silence, saying nothing as he tried to shake free of Motoko's powerful arms, and from the look of it, giving her a run for her money.

Slowly, as if in a daze, Su scanned the crowd, searching out Shinobu and finding the girl staring just as fixedly at Naru's body as Keitaro, looking half-frozen with horror as her eyes drank in every detail of the fallen woman's form, slowly tilting her head from one side to the other.

Kitsune, Su noticed, was also watching Shinobu, though what she was looking for, Su had no idea.

All at once, Shinobu lifted her gaze, staring straight at Su. "Did you call the ambulance?"

Everyone fell silent, turning to Su as she nodded and hesitantly asked, "How… how is she?"

"We can't tell," Kitsune answered, ignoring Ema as she once more stated that she had wiped up the wax. "I…" she glanced at Keitaro, then stepped closer, lowering her voice to a hoarse whisper for Su's ears only. "I think her back's broken…"

Su slumped against the all, unable to hold herself up as this revelation sank in. "N… no way…"

"I don't know," Kitsune insisted urgently, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, "it just… I don't know for sure, but the way she's lying… God, Su, how could this happen…?"

They lapsed into silence, broken only by Ema's soft, incoherent babbling. After an eternity of waiting, the paramedics arrived, checking Naru's vital signs before strapping her to a board and carrying her carefully to the ambulance. Keitaro, who had calmed somewhat since first seeing his wife lying broken at his feet, rode with her, and Kitsune – who had inherited Haruka's car when she moved in with Seta – drove Motoko and Sarah to the hospital, leaving Shinobu, Ema, and Su alone to watch the Hinata Sou.

As soon as the house was quiet, Shinobu turned to Ema, taking her gently by the arm and leading her into the kitchen, where she made the girl a cup of strong tea. Su followed listlessly, sitting at the far end of the table as Shinobu leaned close to the younger resident and began whispering softly, but earnestly in her ear.

Whatever she was saying, Ema violently disagreed with, as she shook her head and kept trying to interrupt, but Shinobu kept talking – low and even – and eventually… Ema's shoulders slumped, and she slowly, slowly nodded.

"What are you guys talking about?" Su wondered, moving closer as Ema put her head in her hands and began to cry very softly.

"Just… straightening things out," Shinobu said gently, putting a hand on Ema's head and pulling her into a tender embrace. "After thinking about it, Ema realized that she might have missed a spot of wax…"

"But-"

"No," Ema sobbed, "No, Maehara-san is right… I could have missed a spot. I'm so clumsy, and I've been so nervous lately, I could have missed one and I never would have known… but I was so sure… I was so… so sure…"

"Shhh," Shinobu soothed, holding the girl tight and stroking her flushed, sweaty face. "No one blames you, Ema… accidents happen all the time."

"But-"

"Shh… shh…"

Su rubbed her temples, trying to understand why something felt off when everything that Shinobu was saying made perfect sense.

_Wax,_ she thought, trying to straighten her thoughts as they kept trying to rearrange themselves into other patterns, _Ema's_ _kind of klutzy, but has she ever forgotten to wipe the wax off the floor – especially at the head of the stairs. She's… god, it's so hard to think…! I just-_

"Leave?" Shinobu said, catching Su's wandering attention and drawing it back to the conversation she was having with the younger girl. "No one wants you to leave, Ema… but you will need to tell everyone that you might have made a mistake. Don't worry," she said, gently patting the girl on the top of her head, "I'll be with you every step of the way."

_Wax,_ Su thought, losing her focus entirely as she clutched at her fragmenting thoughts. _Wax, wax, wax… why… I don't… I can't forget… wax – it's important…_

She shivered as Shinobu reached out and touched her hand, smiling reassuringly as a warm tingle ran up Su's shoulder.

"Don't worry," the dark-haired woman said serenely, "everything's taken care of."

Su nodded, giving herself over to the warm feelings inside of her even as it occurred to her, belatedly, that Shinobu had come from the back of the house when everyone had converged on the site of Naru's accident.

_The back of the house_, she thought, fighting the warmth for a moment longer to finish the idea, _the back of the house, with the other… staircase…_

Continued…

Hawker-748 preread yet again.


	8. Threads

Disclaimer: see part 1.

Stability

Part 9 – Threads

By Random1377

A pall had fallen over the Hinata Sou. Every corner seemed dim and lifeless, giving the illusion of abandonment, as Kitsune wandered listlessly from one room to the next, trying to keep her mind focused as thoughts of sex and closeness tried to crowd her thoughts.

_Shinobu,_ she thought, _the whole damn place smells like Shinobu._

She had no other way to describe it. Everywhere she went, she could feel the younger girl's presence seeping into her – coating her nerve endings like oil until all she could see was the dark-haired girl's smiling face.

_Naru_… _oh God, Naru… I don't know what to do…_

Leaning against a wall, Kitsune hugged herself, shivering as she recalled the last doctor's visit. Naru's back had not broken, as she had thought at first, though she had cracked a few vertebrae in her tumble down the stairs and dislocated her right shoulder. What worried the doctors more was the blow she had sustained to her head.

It had been four days, and the woman had yet to regain consciousness.

_Her brain is still alive,_ Kitsune told herself firmly. _They've got equipment to see that – she's not a vegetable! …she just won't wake up._

The doctors told her, as discretely as they could to avoid upsetting Keitaro, that Naru's brain was actually a bit _over_ active, considering what had happened to her. As far as they could see, her alpha waves were very high on the scale, and though she was asleep, her body was not at rest.

When she had asked them to clarify what that meant, the doctors had told Kitsune that it meant Naru was in a sort of dream state, trapped in a fantasy that (from the region of the brain exhibiting the most activity) was undoubtedly sexual in nature. This assessment was corroborated by the fact that her body was producing higher than normal levels of endorphins and testosterone, commensurate with elevated sexual excitement.

In short, Naru's mind was locked in a perpetual wet dream.

"Not a bad way to spend a coma, I guess," Kitsune whispered helplessly. "Kinda sucks for the rest of us, though…"

She closed her eyes, trying to forget the doctor's final warning that if Naru could not bring herself out of this dream state in two weeks time, her mind would not be able to withstand the prolonged heat of nonstop activity, and would begin to show signs of deterioration.

_So she'll cook in her own juices…_

Kitsune came up short as she spotted someone slipping through the hallway ahead of her, clearly wanting to avoid detection. Squinting in the evening gloom, she realized that it was Sarah sneaking towards the kitchen, looking so worn and jittery that Kitsune barely recognized her.

Quickening her pace, Kitsune crept along behind the girl, moving as quietly as she could as she could to avoid detection and pausing outside the kitchen door. She listened for a moment to the rattle of plates being rattled around, then pushed the door open and strode in, feeling like a bully as Sarah shot her a frightened look and immediately shut the fridge, trying to hide whatever was in her hand.

"Hey," Kitsune said gently, "what's up?"

To her very great surprise, Sarah bolted, trying to get through the kitchen door as though Kitsune had physically attacked her.

Kitsune's reflexes, however, were just a shade too fast, and she reached out, grabbing the younger girl's sleeve. "Whoa, whoa!" she said quickly. "Hold on, there, speedy – what's the rush?"

Sarah trembled, clutching her sandwich (since that's what was in her hand) closer to her chest. "I don't like being out of my room," she said, her voice slightly rusty from disuse as she looked around the kitchen, her eyes giving the impression that she expected some unseen attacker to leap out and tear her limb from limb. "It… I don't… _feel_ right when I'm not in my room…"

"Like how?" Kitsune asked, tightening her hold on Sarah's arm to let her know she was not going to get away.

"Like… like I start thinking about… stuff," Sarah said evasively, her eyes lowering to the floor as Kitsune studied her face. "Bad things… dirty things – things I would have gotten spanked for if I mentioned them in the house."

Kitsune nodded. "I think about those things," she said, feeling the need to cut to the heart of the matter as quickly as possible. "It's natural to think about it sometimes… but that's not what you meant, is it?"

Sarah emphatically shook her head. "No," she said desperately. "It's… when I'm not in my room, I can't _stop_ thinking about it, Kitsune! God, please don't look at me, ok? I… feel so dirty right now… please let me go."

"In a second," Kitsune assured her, thinking back over the past few weeks. "Is it… the house," she asked softly, "or is it when you're with… someone particular?"

Her leading question yielded no results. "It's all the time, now," Sarah whined, "even when I'm in my room… but it's not as bad there – I want to go back there now."

Kitsune let out a short scream of surprise as Sarah suddenly leaned forward and bit her on the back of the hand – not hard enough to draw blood, but hard enough that she felt it – and before she could stop her, Sarah abruptly dropped to the floor, scuttling between Kitsune's legs and sprinting down the hall without a backward glance, leaving the older girl with nothing but confirmation, renewed determination, and a dull ache in the back of her hand.

( 0 0 0 )

Su tried to keep from looking up as Keitaro got to his feet and began pacing around the hospital room.

Again.

_What… time is it?_ she thought tiredly, glancing at the clock on the far wall, but finding that her vision was a bit too blurry to be exactly sure where the hands were. _Looks like one AM._

Time really didn't mean all that much to her anymore – not when she was in that room with Keitaro and Naru, listening to the soft beeps of the monitoring equipment and the occasional barely-suppressed sobs and sniffles of the Hinata Sou's manager as he was seized by grief once more, an hourly event… or so Su guessed, since she tried to avoid looking at the clock whenever possible.

The ever-present smell of disinfectant was starting to get to Su, as was the lingering scent of death that hung in the air. Whoever the previous resident of the room had been, they had passed away with that tangy lemon scent filling their nostrils as they stared up at the pristine white ceiling.

Su wanted to vomit. _This is so…_

Words failed her. Nothing could describe the way she felt at the moment – not the get-well-soon cards the other residents had papered the room with, not the flowers Shinobu had spent her own money to buy (ironically enough, the very kind she had been so enraptured by just a few weeks prior), nothing could encapsulate the hopelessness and sorrow she felt every time she glanced at the lone occupant of the room, or her restless, sleep deprived husband.

"Keitaro," she whispered, finally breaking the silence that had fallen quite some time before. "Keitaro, it's late… you should go home and get some sleep."

Keitaro continued to pace, chewing his bottom lip for several minutes before mumbling (more to himself than Su), "No… no I can't be there right now…"

Su glanced at Naru's sleeping face. "I'll stay with her," she said quietly. "I won't leave her side, Keitaro, ok? When she wakes up, I'll call you, but you have to-"

"No," Keitaro cut in, waving one hand to dismiss this idea, "that's not the problem. Well, that's part of the problem, but that's not all of it."

"I don't understand."

Pausing for a moment at Naru's bedside, Keitaro laid a hand on her feverish forehead. "I want to be here when she wakes up," he explained quietly, "but it would only take a couple minutes to get here if she woke up while I was at home. The biggest problem is Ema."

"Ema?" Su echoed. "Keitaro, I know how upset you are about what happened, but Ema didn't mean to-"

"You have no idea how upset I am," Keitaro interrupted, gazing steadily at Su as he gently combed Naru's hair with his fingers. "The thing is… even I'm not sure about it myself, so if I see her – if I see the person that made this happen, even if it was an accident…"

Su shivered as Keitaro softly finished his thought.

"I might… hurt her…"

"You wouldn't," Su said, trying her best to sound firm, but only coming off as hopeful. "You're too nice for that, and… and it really wasn't her fault."

Keitaro broke eye-contact, gently caressing Naru's cheek for a moment before whispering, "I don't know anymore, Su. I can't even tell you how angry I am right now."

Su opened her mouth, almost saying, 'I understand,' but then Keitaro raised his eyes once more… and she knew that she did not.

( 0 0 0 )

"I'm telling you, it's in the air."

Motoko swung her blade three more times before slowly slipping it into its sheath and grabbing a small hand towel off of the rooftop railing. Wiping the sweat from her face, she said, "Tell me again why you think this is all Shinobu's doing?"

She had been listening – or half-listening, anyway – to Kitsune outline her paranoid delusion for the last fifteen minutes, trying to keep up with the complicated logic that somehow (God only knew how) implicated Shinobu in a fantastically labyrinthine plot to get them all… horny.

"I just don't follow," Motoko said as Kitsune stared at her. "So far all you have is conjecture and a few unfortunate events – clarify for me how this is Shinobu's fault. As far as I can see, she's been doing everything in her power to help out and fill in for Naru while she's gone."

"Yeah," Kitsune said urgently, "because she knows no one's watching her right now and she can do whatever she wants!"

There was a long, heavy silence before Motoko replied, "I'm going to take a shower."

Kitsune grabbed her arm. "She's up to something!" she insisted. "Look, she sets up all these 'accidents' to get Naru out of the way and implicates Ema in the process – but come on, Ema's as harmless as-"

"As Shinobu?" Motoko offered helpfully.

"Listen!" Kitsune begged. "Haven't you noticed how she always seems to be there right when something bad happens? Or else she turns up a few seconds later – like she was just waiting for the shit to hit the fan before showing her face."

"What you're saying doesn't make sense, though," Motoko pointed out. "Ema keeps talking about leaving, and it's been Shinobu that's been convincing her to stay."

"Of course she has," Kitsune nearly screamed, "Ema's her scapegoat!"

"Right…so you're saying Shinobu is insane."

"Look, I'm not questioning her stability," Kitsune said quickly, "but you have to admit there have been some pretty strange things going on around here lately – and every time you dig past the surface, it seems like Shinobu's-"

"I've heard enough," Motoko declared coldly. "You're jumping at shadows, Mitsune. What happened to Naru was a tragic _accident_, do you understand, or do you honestly think that Shinobu tiptoed around, spread wax on the landing, pushed Naru as she came by to ensure that she fell, and slipped around the back to come join the rest of us – all while Ema was standing less than ten feet away and would have to do nothing more than turn her head to catch her in the act?"

Kitsune fumbled for words, but Motoko was not finished.

"You've been drinking again, haven't you?"

"That has nothing to do with this," Kitsune snapped, instantly growing red. "The evidence-"

"But what evidence?" Motoko cut in impatiently. "What do you have that could possibly implicate Shinobu in anything that's happened here? And I think your drinking has _everything_ to do with your attitude. Look," she said, lowering her voice and glancing around to see if anyone was listening, "you have a problem, and you can't quit, but you _have _cut way down – we respect you for that, it takes will to deny your addiction, but for God's sake, Mitsune, would you listen to yourself? You're accusing Shinobu Maehara of _attempted MURDER._"

Averting her eyes, Kitsune whispered, "I'm not… not accusing her of that, I just – look, she's always _there_ when this bad stuff happens, or right nearby! What do you make of that?"

"Coincidence."

"Are you serious?"

"Are you?"

Kitsune's shoulders slumped in defeat. "There's something going on," she said plaintively. "I know I can't prove it, and I know… I know it might not even be Shinobu's doing, but there is _definitely_ something strange going on in this dorm, and I plan to find out what it is."

Motoko nodded. "Good luck," she said coolly, "but please… try not to incriminate any of your _friends_ unnecessarily."

"Unnecessarily," Kitsune echoed as the other woman turned and strode away. "You have my word on that much."

Continued…

Hawker-748 pre-read again, which is good because this chapter had quite a few problems with the first draft.


	9. Rubicon

Disclaimer: see part 1.

Stability

Part 10 – Rubicon

By Random1377

It was so quiet in the Hinata Sou that every now and then Su found herself holding her breath and waiting for something terrible to happen. It was silly, of course, for her to feel that way, but with everything that had happened, there was an undeniable sensation that ran from the pit of her stomach to the soles of her feet that there was still a storm on the horizon.

_Three of us,_ she thought as she slowly wiped one of the first floor windows with a rag. _Three of us are gone now – four if you count Keitaro, since he's never here._

Ema lasted a week after Naru's accident, vanishing in the middle of the night without so much as a note to indicate that she had gone. As no one was terribly close to the girl, no one knew where she might have gone or how to get in touch with her. Everyone knew she was gone, though, as her room had been stripped clean of everything that had not been in it when she had moved in.

What hurt, or maybe embarrassed fit better, Su the most was that no one seemed to care that much that Ema was gone. _She was a nice girl,_ Su thought sadly. _Nicer than Sarah was when she moved in, and nicer than Kanako could even dream of being…_

Thinking of Sarah, though, made Su sadder still, as the younger girl had only that day announced that she was going to spend some time with her father Seta. The little blonde had looked so frazzled and worn out that no one had put up much of a fight.

Except Shinobu.

_Shinobu,_ Su thought, setting her rag down and resting her forehead on the wall. _What's going on, Shinobu? I can't ever guess what you're thinking or how you feel without asking you. Is… is that how love is supposed to be? With all we've done, shouldn't I know you better than anyone by now?_

She shook her head.

"Vegetables…"

Looking out the window, Su easily spotted Shinobu digging her little vegetable patch on the side of the house. It was strange, Su thought, that the dark-haired girl was working through her issues this way.

_You could just talk to me,_ she thought sadly, raising her hand in a halfhearted wave as Shinobu looked up and smiled at her. _I know you're in pain – why won't you open up to me? We're… we're supposed to be lovers…_

She blushed at this thought, unable to meet Shinobu's eyes as the girl continued to gaze affectionately up at her.

There was no denying that, physically, this term applied to them… but neither of them had ever said 'I love you' and there had been no talk of what the future might hold for them. To be honest, she mused, there had been nothing between them but heat and sweat and long, long nights in the same bed.

But even that had faded somewhat in light of the mishaps and leave-takings going on at the dorm. Su had tried to tell herself that things would get back to the way they were, but it seemed that Shinobu was more and more preoccupied as the days slipped past, and Su was starting to have doubts.

"Penny for your thoughts."

Doubts, she knew, that would be encouraged by the woman slowly approaching her from the far end of the hall.

"Just thinking what a nice day it is," Su said evasively, picking up her rag and moving to the next window.

Kitsune glanced out the window. "I see."

Su resumed her job, trying her best to avoid Kitsune's probing gaze.

"Are you two doing ok?"

The rag in Su's hand nearly cracked the window as she tensed. "Umm, yeah, fine," she said brightly. "Or at least as well as we can be with everything going on around here, you know?"

Kitsune leaned against the wall. "Am I going to have to keep dancing around it, or are you just going to answer the question you know I'm asking?"

"I don't know what you mean."

Sighing, Kitsune muttered, "And so we dance."

Su let the rag fall to the floor, staring down at it as Kitsune looked up at the ceiling, clearly on the verge of making her question crystal clear. "We're doing fine," Su repeated quietly, "or at least as well as we can be with everything going on around here…"

"Believe it or not, I'm rooting for you," Kitsune said quietly. "What you guys are doing… I don't have a problem with it, so I won't look at you any differently. I'm just glad you have someone that's special to you."

Feeling rather foolish for trying to brush the woman off, Su stammered, "Th-thank you." She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What gave us away?"

Kitsune smiled gently. "I know the signs of people trying to be subtle," she said mirthfully. "I mean… I have two boyfriends right now – and I'll bet you didn't even know I had one."

"No," Su admitted, "I didn't."

"So, yeah," Kitsune shrugged, "I know what to look for."

"Oh."

Kitsune hummed under her breath for a few moments as Su retrieved her rag and continued to wipe the windows.

"I also know," she said abruptly, "how to hide it when I'm in pain… so I know what to look for there, too…"

Su pursed her lips. "Good to know," she said coolly, "but-"

"I'd sure hate to see either of you get hurt," Kitsune cut in softly. "So… if there's anything you… want to tell me, I won't tell anyone else."

Giving her a sharp look, Su replied, "There isn't. Everything's fine."

Kitsune shrugged expansively. "If you say so," she said lightly. "I'm just saying if anything changes, you can talk to me."

"Mm."

The moment of closeness was gone. Su knew it, and Kitsune knew it. It had ended with the very hint of suspicion on Kitsune's part, and would not be easily rekindled.

Kistune lingered for a moment longer before murmuring a soft farewell and slipping off down the hall towards her room. Su shook her head and continued to work on the windows, glancing briefly down at where Shinobu was hard at work in her soon-to-be vegetable patch.

From her angle, she could not see the small frown on Shinobu's face or hear the other girl murmuring fragments of Su's conversation with Kitsune under her breath.

( 0 0 0 )

Kitsune glanced furtively up and down the hallway, checking for any sign of the other residents, but as far as she could see, she had the building to herself. Moving as quietly as she could, she hurried to Shinobu's door and slid it open, ducking inside and closing it behind her after another quick glance to ensure that she was alone.

_Looking for a recipe,_ she thought, glancing around the girl's neatly kept room. _I wanted to make Keitaro some cookies, and I thought you might have a good recipe in one of the cookbooks you keep in your room._

It was a fairly lame excuse, Kitsune knew, but hopefully it would be enough to allay any suspicion – though she rather hoped she could find something and get out before Shinobu came back in from working on her stupid vegetable garden.

_Who plants vegetables in the summer, anyway?_ she thought as she walked over to Shinobu's desk and began carefully sifting through the papers on it. _I'm no green thumb, but don't you plant in the fall or spring or something? Isn't summer usually too hot to grow anything?_

If this was the least of the oddities going on in the Hinata Sou, she would have been thankful.

Her conversation with Su the previous day had gone better than she had hoped. She had found out that Shinobu and Su _were_ having an affair, something she had only guessed at in spite of her hinting that she had known all along. And, more importantly, she had found that Su was definitely having some issues with Shinobu.

_That look when I asked her if anything was wrong,_ Kitsune thought, moving to another pile of papers next to the bed, _it was like I'd slapped her… or read her mind. Things aren't all sunshine and roses with-_

Suddenly sure that someone was watching her, she whipped around… but the door was still closed, and she could not hear anyone walking past.

"God I need a drink," she muttered, turning back to her research. "Wait… what's this…?"

Under a stack of homework papers, stained by a chocolaty fingerprint, lay an official-looking document bearing the heading, 'Potential side effects,' right under the boldly imprinted title, 'Weismann Institute.'

_Weismann,_ Kitsune thought, staring for a moment at the little red and white logo next to the name, _isn't that a drug company or something?_

Slowly, she scanned the brief list, frowning as she mumbled under her breath. "Dry mouth… loss of appetite… insomnia… hot flashes… increased sensitivity to light and sound – what the hell is this for?" Rifling through the papers produced no other Weismann-branded documents, so Kitsune read on. "Nose bleeds… constipation… nausea… vomiting…"

_Ok,_ Kitsune thought, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the door was still closed and listening for a moment to assure herself that she was still alone. _So I think… we have the culprit. Shinobu's been complaining of about half of these symptoms, and I know she had a nose bleed just yesterday… but none of this says what she's taking or what it does._

She read on, her own mouth going dry as she whispered, "Headaches… loss of equilibrium… paranoia… increased aggressiveness… hallucinations… ok, ok here's something – if you exhibit any of the previous three symptoms, please note it in your journal and contact the Weismann Institute immediately at…"

Clutching the paper in one hand, Kitsune dug her cell phone out of her pocket and flipped it open.

"Someone better have some goddamn answers," she muttered as she dialed the number and held the phone to her ear. "She is definitely…"

Kitsune trailed off, scowling furiously as she listened to the computerized recording on the other end of the line inform her that the number she had dialed was no longer in service.

"Damn it," she hissed, punching the button to hang the phone up and dialing a different number by memory. "Motoko, hi, it's Kitsune," she said briskly. "Listen, about… what we were talking about the other day – I think I've found something you should see. Meet me out back as soon as you get this, and don't tell anyone about it! I'll be waiting."

Clicking the phone off, Kitsune glanced back at the papers, but her back went ramrod straight as a soft voice spoke up behind her.

"It's not nice to look through other people's things."

Kitsune turned, her pre-formed excuse jumping to her lips as she felt her heart sink into her stomach… but before she could utter a syllable, her eyes went wide with shock as she found herself staring at a wide, flat object rushing towards her face.

There was a sickening crunch, and Kitsune saw nothing but stars, flashing red, and then… pure, velvety darkness.

( 0 0 0 )

Motoko frowned as she hiked up the stairs to the Hinata Sou, taken once more with the notion that the place was an abandoned building, in spite of the fact that she herself lived there. A certain air of decay hung around the place – of disrepair and loneliness that the swordswoman easily attached to the recent hardships the tenants had endured.

Whoever said that a building's exterior did not reflect the personality of the people within was clearly either ignorant or deliberately stubborn, in Motoko's opinion, as she could easily tell just from looking at the dorm house that things had gone very, very wrong.

_Not as wrong as Kitsune seems to think,_ she mused as she reached the front porch and looked up at the massive structure, _but wrong nonetheless._

Glancing at her cell phone for a moment, Motoko set her book bag on the front porch and headed around towards the back of the building, curious to see what Kitsune had found that was so urgent.

_Maybe it's the 'evidence' she was looking for,_ she thought wryly, giving Shinobu's newly dug vegetable patch a wide berth as she walked the length of the building into the back yard. _Though honestly, the idea of Shinobu…_

"Shinobu?"

Her last thought became a question as Motoko found the dark haired girl busily filling shoveling dirt onto an already decent sized pile in the back yard. Her face was flushed as she worked, and sweat was prominent on her brow – as if she had been working hard, and for a long time.

Motoko had to call the young woman's name three times to get her attention.

"Oh, Motoko… you're home early."

"The instructor broke her arm," Motoko explained, giving a questioning glance at the patch of dirt at Shinobu's feet. "We were all sent home."

Shinobu nodded. "I see," she said, putting more dirt on the pile. "Lucky for you, huh?"

"Mm."

_Something's… off,_ Motoko thought, staring at newly-turned earth. _What is she doing?_

"Have you seen Kitsune?"

"Kitsune?" Shinobu leaned on her shovel, wiping sweat from her forehead as she put on a thoughtful expression. "Umm, I think she might have gone out drinking."

Motoko frowned. "Drinking?"

"Uh huh," Shinobu nodded. "She seemed really mad about something, and kept mumbling that she needed a drink."

"She promised me that she was going to cut back down," Motoko said slowly.

Shinobu shrugged, scooping up another shovelful of dirt and heaping it onto the mound. "Well," she said delicately, "sometimes, when people have a problem… they say one thing and do another. I don't mean that she lied to you, but maybe… maybe she even believed that she could get better, you know? Like she knew she was doing something bad, but just couldn't keep herself from doing it. Hasn't that ever happened to you?"

Motoko's frown grew as she looked down at the ground, and ignoring Shinobu's question, she asked, "What are you doing, anyway?"

The smile on Shinobu's face grew. "Water pipe broke," she said cheerfully. "It happened so fast I didn't have time to call Keitaro to fix it, so I took care of it myself."

"How… handy," Motoko said, slowly lifting her eyes to gaze into Shinobu's face. "A broken water pipe, huh?"

"Yup! See all the water?"

Motoko did see a lot of water.

She also saw the hose dripping on the ground ten feet behind Shinobu's back.

"I'll be right back," she said suddenly, giving the younger girl a small bow. "Unless… you need some help."

Shinobu's reply was quick and firm. "No, I'm almost done."

"I see."

Motoko walked toward the house, keeping Shinobu in her peripheral vision as she went and waiting until she had entered the house before pulling out her cell phone.

_Paranoid,_ she thought, glancing over her shoulder and finding Shinobu waving merrily to her as she set down her shovel. _You're being paranoid, Motoko… don't let Kitsune's irrationality infect you!_

In spite of this thought, she dialed the tea house.

There was no answer.

_It's working hours… Kitsune never leaves the store unattended – that would lose her money._

Looking out the window, Motoko cursed.

Shinobu was no longer in sight.

"Stay calm," she told herself. "None of this proves anything – not a single thing."

Heading through the house, she dialed another number. _Answer,_ she thought, trying to look anywhere for signs that something was amiss. _Just answer the phone so I'll know-_

"This is Kitsune," a voice on the other end of the phone said.

"Kitsune, thank-"

"I'm not here right now," the voice cheerfully informed her, "leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can… and if you know the winner of this morning's race, let me know, cuz I can't find a paper anywhere!"

Motoko rolled her eyes as she hung up the phone. _At least she has her priorities straight,_ she thought acidly. _Where IS she?_

The house was disturbingly silent. A quick survey of the front hall showed that everyone's shoes were gone.

Everyone's but Shinobu's… and Kitsune's.

Sweat broke out on Motoko's brow, and she immediately reached for her sword, baring the blade with a soft whisper of steel on leather as she hit redial on her cell phone. Her lips compressed into a thin line as she pressed herself back against a wall and listened for Kitsune's voice, every danger sense she possessed going wild as the very _wrongness_ of the Hinata Sou seemed to assail her from every side.

"This is Kitsune, I'm not here right now. Leave m-"

Motoko thumbed the phone off, then back on, hitting redial again and heading towards the stairs as a very faint ringing sound reached her ears.

"This is Kitsune, I'm not-"

Off, on, redial.

"This is Kitsune, I'm-"

Off, on, redial. Motoko edged up the stairs.

"This is Kitsune-"

The ringing grew louder as Motoko reached the second floor. Off, on, redial.

"This is-"

Down the hall. Past Keitaro and Naru's room. Off, on, redial.

"This-"

Shinobu's room.

Off… on… redial.

Motoko slid the door open.

"This is Kitsune, I'm not here right now. Leave me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can… and if you know the winner of this morning's race, let me know, cuz I can't find a paper anywhere!"

The phone fell from Motoko's nerveless fingers as she stared and stared at the floor in Shinobu's room. All of the furniture was in its usual place, and everything seemed in order… save for the small pool of red liquid directly in the middle of the floor and the empty bucket and scrub brush sitting two feet away.

"Oh my…"

Motoko was at a loss for whom to pray to. All signs pointed somewhere her brain could not go, no matter how she tried to direct it. What was before her eyes was so inconceivable that she actually blinked to try to clear the image from her mind, telling herself it was just her imagination… but no matter how many times she closed her eyes, the bucket and the blood remained unchanged.

A soft beep drew her attention, and her eyes fell on what could only be Kitsune's cell phone, lying almost side by side with her own, the little red light on the antenna informing the gray-haired woman that she had missed some calls.

Somehow, Motoko doubted they would ever be retrieved.

"Shinobu!"

Tightly clutching her sword's hilt, Motoko turned from the nightmare before her and rushed to the stairs, flying down them and bursting into the back yard, her eyes wide and searching as she tried to find the dark-haired girl in the fading evening light.

"Shinobu," she shouted, "where are you? Show yourself!"

She nearly shrieked as Shinobu tapped her on the shoulder. "I'm right here," the younger girl said lightly. "What are you yelling about?"

Motoko spun on her heel, stepping back and bringing her blade up to rest against Shinobu's throat. "Stay back," she snapped. "Don't come near me, you freak!"

Shinobu looked surprised… and then, to Motoko's amazement, her bottom lip began to quiver. "How could you… how could you say that to me?" she hiccupped, covering her mouth with one hand as she stared at Motoko with accusatory eyes. "Motoko, you're so mean!"

"No more games," Motoko hissed, keeping her sword arm straight as Shinobu took a step towards her. "I know – I know what you did!"

"What did I do?" Shinobu sniffled, taking another step. "I don't understand why you're so mad at me."

Motoko stepped back. "You know damn well what you did," she roared. "Kitsune… Shinobu how could you…?"

"How could I what?" Shinobu wailed. "What did I-"

"You killed her!"

Shinobu's eyes went wide. "No!" she breathed. "No, I would never do that!"

"Stay back, I said!" Motoko growled, retreating a few more steps as Shinobu held out her arms and tried to embrace her. "I'm so blind – I'm so _blind!_ How could I have missed it – you waxed the floor! You broke Naru's things! Kitsune was right – you were always right there!"

"No, I-"

"Stay _back!_"

Motoko took another step, stumbling over the shovel Shinobu had been using and falling flat on her rear. Holding her blade forward, she stared up with open fear at the girl in front of her.

"You killed her," she whispered, "you killed her and you buried her right here!"

Shinobu tilted her head to the side. "No," she said emphatically, "I buried her in the side yard."

Motoko's hand landed on the soft, earthy mound Shinobu had been covering when she arrived… and for a moment, her mind did not register what the younger girl had said. "You… what?"

Walking forward, Shinobu earnestly said, "I buried her in the side yard. The dirt's a lot softer there, since I've been working on the vegetable patch. It's coming along nicely, by the way – we should have some really nice pumpkins for Halloween."

"Then what-" Motoko began, scooting back as Shinobu broke into a wide, sunny grin.

"Back here I was covering the ten foot sinkhole I found when I was gardening the other day."

Motoko tried to shift her weight – to throw herself forward as a sharp crack sounded under her… but she was not fast enough, and the makeshift cover of sticks and dirt covering the sinkhole gave way, sending her down into its narrow confines with a scream of terror.

She landed hard on her side, wincing as the breath exploded from her lungs. _Sword,_ she thought quickly, fighting the pain as she groped around for her blade. _Have to get out of here before­-_

Her breath caught in her throat as dirt rained down on her silky black hair.

"I'm sorry about this, sempai, I really am," Shinobu apologized, driving the shovel again into the side of the sinkhole and raining more dirt down on the other girl. "I'll make sure your sister gets your sword… I know how much it meant to you. Bye now!"

Motoko could only watch in horror as Shinobu bent down and began working at the sides of the sinkhole, her intentions clear as more and more moist earth began to rain down.

"No," the swordswoman gasped. "_NO!"_

Desperately, she scrambled at the sides… but the earth was too loose, and she only succeeded in filling the hole more.

_No, no, no, NO, NO,NOOOOO!_

Shinobu worked industriously, shoveling dirt into the hole as the girl below her began to scream for help. After several minutes, she placed the hose at he mouth of the hole, turning it on full blast and watching in satisfaction as the hole quickly began to fill with dirt and water.

She hummed as she resumed her shoveling, and when Motoko's screams finally dwindled away with a wretched, muddy gurgle, Shinobu was thankful for the silence.

Smiling to herself, she continued to work.

To be concluded…

Hawker-748 pre-read this chapter.


	10. Ecdysis

Disclaimer: see part 1.

Stability

Part 11 – Ecdysis

By Random1377

Keitaro's feet felt as if they were made of lead as he trudged up the stairs to the Hinata Sou. In spite of the bone-deep weariness, he was elated and light of heart as he looked up at the building and smiled softly to himself.

Naru's brain activity was finally back down in the normal range.

_And she might even wake up sometime in the next few days,_ he thought happily. _I've gotta tell everyone._

This was the only reason the manager had been able to leave his wife's bedside, for while he wanted to be there when she woke, the doctors had been confident that it would not be any time in the next fifteen hours. And besides, Su had promised to stay by Naru's side while he went home for a shower and some sleep.

She had been very delicate in letting him know that he was a little less than fresh in the smell area.

Keitaro took a step forward, but came up short as something crunched under his foot. Stepping back, he looked down, finding a half-crushed cicada shell lying at the top of the staircase.

_Ecdysis_, he thought suddenly, _the phenomenon wherein an insect sheds its outer skin. Huh… guess that life sciences class wasn't wasted after all._

He looked around, frowning suddenly as he realized that he could not hear any cicadas. At the height of summer, the trees should have been alive with their chirping calls, but there was not so much as a whisper of sound from the treeline.

_Kinda… creepy._

Approaching the porch, he chuckled. "Guess Motoko's here, anyway."

The swordswoman's backpack sat on the ground in front of the building, looking sad and somehow forlorn as Keitaro scooped it up and threw it over his shoulder. _Must've been in a hurry,_ he reasoned. _I'll just bring it in for her._

On impulse, he turned away from the front of the building and started around the side, half-formed thoughts of seeing Shinobu's vegetable patch flitting through his mind as the smell of damp earth filled his nostrils.

He pursed his lips as he passed by the turned up ground.

Somehow, it looked like someone had deliberately torn the little patch to shreds.

_Wonder what happened there,_ he thought, squinting in the dark as the sound of running water filled his ears. Reaching the back yard, he sighed, his shoulders slumping as he surveyed the scene.

"What a mess…"

The entire back yard was a swamp. Water was everywhere, and at the back edge of the yard there was a huge, muddy mound – as if someone had been digging a hole, then abruptly decided not to and hastily filled it with dirt and water. With a deep sigh, he leaned down and turned off the hose, shaking his head as he wondered who would have left it running like that.

_Maybe there was a phone call,_ he reasoned, glancing once more at the mound of earth. _But still, they can't turn off the faucet?_

He stared into the darkness for a moment, biting his lip as he looked at a long, curved stick lying on the ground near the muddy heap.

"Nah, can't be."

Turning away, Keitaro went into the Hinata Sou, chiding himself for thinking that Motoko would ever leave her sword lying around in the back yard – let alone near a huge pile of mud.

One shower and change of clothes later, Keitaro felt like a new man. He dried his hair as he wandered around the empty residence, wondering where everyone had gone to.

_Maybe they all went out for dinner?_ he mused. _It's only eight. Maybe Haruka stopped by, or something, and they all went out for a bite to eat._ Heading towards his room, he decided that he did not like the way the house felt when it was empty. Everything was too quiet.

Once in his room, he amused himself with developing scenarios for why Motoko's backpack was on the porch, and why the hose was running in the back yard. He imagined Shinobu working in the yard (possibly expanding her vegetable patch) and Motoko returning from school – and Kitsune grabbing them both and hustling them out the door with a big grin as she told them things were too dismal and they needed to go out and have some drinks.

_That sounds like something she would do,_ he thought, drifting pleasantly on the edge of sleep as he imagined Motoko rolling her eyes and Shinobu stammering that they really shouldn't leave the Hinata Sou unattended. _Kitsune would tell Shinobu not to worry so much,_ he mused, _and Motoko would complain that she had studying to do, but then they would be out of the house, and Kitsune would be laughing, and… and then…_

And then Keitaro was fast asleep.

( 0 0 0 )

"Darling… wake up…"

Keitaro mumbled and tried to go back to sleep, but the warm, soft lips trailing kisses down his bare chest made this impossible.

"Wha-"

"Shh…"

Confusion set in as Keitaro tried to glance downward, but his eyes seemed to be covered by a thick, black blindfold. A quick flexing of muscles told him that his wrists and ankles seemed to be bound with rope – a situation he might have found unnerving had it been the first time.

His wife, he had found, was rather fond of being in control.

"N-Naru…?"

He hissed as, instead of a verbal response, the warm heat that had been moving down his body finally reached its destination.

_Dream,_ he thought incoherently, _it… this isn't a dream… feels too good…_

A shiver ran down his spine as his wife began an aggressive campaign to please him, running her hands all over his chest and stomach as her mouth continued its activity.

_It was,_ Keitaro thought with a relief so deep it was almost pitiful. _Everything else was a dream… oh god, more like a nightmare! I… I…_

Thinking became rather difficult for several moments as his partner repositioned herself, straddling him and giving him a deep, hungry kiss as she prepared for the next logical step.

"I love you, Keitaro…"

Keitaro's back arched as he was engulfed in heat of another kind… but his pleasure was short-lived as his partner cried out in pain.

"What's wro-"

"It… it hurts!"

Keitaro felt as if he had been doused in ice water. The words were almost identical to the ones uttered by Naru on their first night together… but he had known the sound of Naru's voice long enough to recognize that the woman awkwardly trying to make love to him was not the one he had vowed to be with until death parted them.

"Sh-_Shinobu_…?"

"Why does it… hurt?" the woman gasped, her hands resting on Keitaro's shoulders as she continued to move. "It's supposed to… feel good…"

"Shinobu, stop," Keitaro demanded. "Get… what do you think you're _doing_?"

Keitaro struggled, but it was a useless gesture. His wrists and ankles, he realized with sick horror, were not tied down with regular rope, but with the plastic zip ties he had purchased to bundle his stereo wires together… and the more he fought, the deeper they cut into his skin, making him wince as Shinobu's soft, ragged breath washed over his face.

Her fingernails dug into his shoulders, making him wince as she rocked against him. "Just… need to keep going," she whispered, clearly speaking more to herself than him. "I love you so much… I know it will feel good if I just keep going…"

"No!" Keitaro cried, trying to squirm away from the woman as she continued to slowly move herself up and down. "No, Shinobu – stop it! Get… get off!"

A trickle of sweat slipped down the side of Keitaro's face as he ineffectually fought against his bonds. _Stop,_ he thought desperately, _stop this… somebody help me. Don't let this happen!_

"Mmm, I can feel you inside me," Shinobu crooned, pausing with her hips against his and leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. "Should I go faster, darling? That's what Naru said whenever you-"

"_Cut it out!"_

Keitaro could tell that Shinobu was smiling as she whispered, "I'll bet our babies are going to be beautiful…"

It lasted for a long time. How long, Keitaro would never know… but he guessed it must have been well over the usual time for that sort of thing, as he held out for as long as he could. He started with reasoning, telling her that what she was doing was immoral. When that failed, he moved to reprimanding her and trying to make her feel guilty for making him do something he didn't want to do.

Ultimately, he had been reduced to begging and shouting for help, but it was all wasted breath as Shinobu continued to force herself on him, finally getting what she wanted from him and telling him (in a voice so gentle it made his stomach turn) that he should save his energy, since they were going to be together for a long, long time.

_Sorry,_ he thought miserably, blinking fiercely to try to hold back the tears, _I'm so sorry… I couldn't… I couldn't stop…_

That the betrayal was just physical meant nothing. He had still betrayed his marriage vows. If he _had_ loved Naru, he felt, then he wouldn't have been excited by the touch of another.

"Mmm just imagine how happy we can be now that Naru's out of the way," Shinobu hummed happily. "Why did I wait this long?"

At the mention of his wife's name, and the realization of what Shinobu was saying… something inside of Keitaro's brain snapped. He screamed, yanking at his bonds until blood began to trickle down his arms, throwing out curses even he would not have thought of using under normal circumstances and vowing that once he got free, he would tear Shinobu limb from limb.

The rage he felt was so hot he was certain that it would be enough to free him from his bonds. Naru, his wife, was hooked up to more wires than one of Su's creations – all for the sake of jealousy? The very thought of it drew such a wretched scream from him that he was sure he had snapped a vocal chord. He continued to struggle for as long as he could, ignoring the pain in his wrists and ankles as he tried to find a way to hurt the girl responsible.

Finally, however, he was too exhausted to do anything more than sob.

He cringed as he felt a soft hand caress the side of his face, and for one, glorious moment, he thought that maybe someone had heard him screaming and come to rescue him.

Until Shinobu whispered, "You don't need to be so angry, darling. Now, Naru said it took a few times before it stopped hurting, and since we're all alone…"

And as her hand began to slide up his thigh, Keitaro knew that there was nothing he could do to stop her.

Somehow, he found the strength to continue screaming.

( 0 0 0 )

Su took the stairs three at a time, ascending to the Hinata Sou like a rocket as she struggled not to grin like an idiot.

"Keitaro! Keitaro, where are you? I've got great news!"

She threw the Hinata Sou's front door open and bounded in, pirouetting like a ballerina as she imagined the look on Keitaro's face when she told him what had happened.

_Doctors said it was a miracle, _she thought with a broad grin. _Fastest recovery they've ever seen._

"Keitaaaaaarrrooo!"

Glancing at the mat by the front door, Su picked out Kitsune, Keitaro, and Shinobu's shoes all in a neat little row. _And there's Motoko's backpack,_ she thought happily. _Everyone's home._

She dashed to Shinobu's room, thrilled with the idea of telling her first… but the room was empty and dark, as were Kitsune and Motoko's rooms.

_Maybe they're all talking with Keitaro,_ she thought, as she wandered towards the manager's room. _Get it while you can, girls, this is the last time Naru's gonna let anyone near that room at night. Boy, she was pissed when she woke up,_ she thought with a grin. _Nearly broke that orderly's wrist when he tried to calm her… down…_

Su stood outside of Keitaro's door, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air. Living in close quarters with newlyweds, and having recently experienced sex herself, Su knew the smell of heavy sexual activity – and it was strong even from outside of the room, meaning that whatever had happened (or was still happening) behind the thin pine and rice paper was intense and long lasting.

_Maybe Kitsune… brought her boyfriend home?_

It was the first thought that came to Su's mind, and she discarded it almost as soon as it surfaced. If Kitsune had brought a man home, why take him to Keitaro's room? The next thought, as horrible as it was, was that it was Keitaro that Kitsune was sleeping with. Motoko would never touch what was not hers, so it had to be Kitsune behind the door.

It just had to be.

"Is… anyone there?"

Su knew it was a foolish question. She could hear rustling behind the door, and (she thought) the faint sounds of rough, uneven breathing.

"Keitaro… are you there?"

She reached out, laying her hand on the door and reminding herself that she had to tell him about Naru.

"I'm coming in."

Su slid the door open, bracing herself for the worst.

She did not brace hard enough.

"Keit-"

A third of the manager's name escaped her lips before something hard and unyielding was driven into her stomach, knocking the breath from her lungs and sending her to the floor in a gasping heap. She shook her head to try to clear it, but before she could get her bearings, someone was forcing her arms behind her back and cinching her wrists together with a piece of plastic.

"There," an unmistakable, cheerful voice declared, "now, I think you've been told before, but it's rude to enter a room uninvited. Hush now – you're interrupting."

Blinking away tears of pain, Su rolled onto her side. "Shinobu?" she gasped, still trying to recover her breath. "What… what are you doing?"

Shinobu crouched down in front of her lover, pushing a strand of hair out of her face before she replied, "Just what I should have done five years ago."

Su glanced around the room as best she could from her prone position, and as her eyes landed on the futon, she gasped in shock, unable to hide her surprise at what she saw there.

In her agitation, the question came out in a single burst of air.

"_Whathaveyoudone_?"

No matter how she tried, Su could not look away from the macabre, sweat and blood stained body lying on the bed, and the only reason she knew that the man lying motionless and blindfolded on the futon was not dead was the shallow, ragged sound of breathing rising through the air behind the still-smiling Shinobu.

"They didn't make a cute couple."

"What?"

Su continued to stare as Keitaro shivered and let out an incoherent groan.

"They didn't go together," Shinobu explained patiently. "Anyone could see that. She was too rough with him… she didn't deserve him."

Slowly, Su's eyes moved up to focus on Shinobu's face. "It was you," she breathed, "you put the wax on the floor… you h-hurt Naru…"

Shinobu tilted her head to the side. "Don't cry," she said warmly, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the small, cell-phone shaped device. "You know it was the right thing to do."

The realization of how she had contributed to what had happened hit Su like a baseball bat to the gut, forcing her dinner back up and out of her stomach as she stared helplessly at the detector she had made for Shinobu.

"Y-you said you wanted it to h-help us," she croaked, flinching back as Shinobu set the device on the floor and gently wiped the vomit from the corner of her mouth.

"I did," Shinobu said happily. "Can't you see how this helps?"

_This can't be happening! _Su thought frantically. _I… I did this – I helped her do this…_

She had thought that the dark-haired girl was going to use the _Resident Locator V 2.4_ to keep tabs on everyone in the Hinata Sou and let them know when dinner was ready. In hindsight, it was a flimsy reason for needing a device as advanced as the locator, but Su had been so willing to trust – so deeply in love – that she had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

Squinting at the screen on the small device, Su felt the world swim into shades of gray. "Motoko," she whispered, "Motoko and Ema are… Shinobu… oh Shinobu what have you done…?"

In creating the device, Su had simply copied her Tama-locator and added bio-codes for the other residents. When the residents were healthy, they moved from one point to another on the device's display grid, occasionally flashing to show that their status was normal.

The dots corresponding to Motoko and Ema's names were stationary… and had not flashed once in all the time Su had watched them.

"_What have you done?"_

Shinobu rose to her feet. "I thought you would understand," she sighed, shaking her head as she gazed down at the helpless girl. "You knew – everyone knew – who it was I loved." Abruptly, she laughed, giggling until tears streamed from the corners of her eyes. "I'm so glad," she gasped, "I'm so glad I was able to feel this way. I'll have to find that doctor tomorrow and tell her I feel great – better than great! Perfect! Invulnerable! Su… Su, you have no idea what I can do now! I can hear things people say from three rooms away! I can smell dinner cooking when I'm coming up the stairs! I can feel… oh Su, I really wish you could feel what I feel."

The words flew from Su's mouth before she could stop them.

"I won't forgive you for hurting them!"

Smiling down at her as if she was speaking to a slow child, Shinobu said, "I didn't hurt them, Su… I set them free. They were prisoners of their love, don't you see? I just freed them from their hopeless longing."

And it was then that Su realized that the other woman was completely insane.

"Don't worry," Shinobu said kindly, "you'll see when-"

Su's survival instincts went into high gear, and she rolled onto her back, kicking her feet up over her head and then bringing them back down and violently shifting her center of balance, effectively flipping herself upright in a move that would have made any Olympic-level gymnast proud.

Unfortunately, Shinobu was more familiar with her body than anyone else in the world, and as soon as Su had regained her feet, Shinobu swept them out from her under, sending the other woman crashing back to the floor.

A gasp of pain escaped Su's lips as her forehead connected sharply with the side of Keitaro's desk. Blood immediately rushed into her eyes, blinding her with red as she hurriedly tried to rise once more.

"Just lie down," Shinobu advised pityingly, easily forcing Su to the ground with a carefully timed shove. "You'll just hurt yourself more, and I don't want to see you get hurt – I want to take all of your pain away…"

Four failed attempts later, Su lay gasping for breath in the middle of Keitaro's floor. The blow to her head, as well as the lack of oxygen from breathing so hard, made her dizzy, and with icy horror, she realized that – baring a miracle of adrenaline – she was not going to be on her feet anytime in the near future.

Or, as Shinobu promised, ever.

"Good girl."

Su whimpered as Shinobu crouched down and gently wiped the blood off of her cheek. "Don't… touch me," she panted, trying to shy away, "don't touch me!"

It made her sick to her stomach that only the night before, she had been begging for the opposite, and she swallowed with some difficulty as Shinobu's hand slowly slid down from her cheek and gently wrapped around her throat, her revolution intensifying as – even then – she realized that she still wanted Shinobu to make love to her.

"Don't be scared," Shinobu told her warmly, "when it's all over, you'll-"

Su's eyes shot to the ceiling, widening in surprise as Kitsune – covered in dirt from head to toe – dove through the hole Keitaro had neglected to repair for all those years and hit Shinobu from the side, throwing her off of Su and sending her tumbling halfway across the room.

Kitsune's left eye was bloodshot and crazed, the right swollen and blackened as if she had been hit with a tremendous force, and when she bared her teeth, Su could see that three had been knocked out. Blood mingled with the dirt in her hair, caking it together in ragged clumps and giving her a ghoulish, almost undead presence. Before Shinobu could regain her footing, the gray haired woman had crossed the distance between them, driving her fist into the dark haired girl's jaw and knocking her back up against the wall.

"Should have made sure the job was finished," she hissed, drawing her fist back for another hit.

She swung a second time, but Shinobu simply dropped to the floor, allowing Kitsune's fist to crash into the drywall where she had been standing only a moment before, plowing clean through it and connecting solidly with the wall stud behind it. Kitsune howled with pain, cradling her shattered hand against her chest as she fell to her knees and blinked tears of agony from her uninjured eye.

Shinobu began to circle her, looking so much like a shark that Su could barely force herself to continue watching. She knew, as Kitsune must have, what was coming… and there was nothing either of them could do to stop it. The dark haired girl regarded the injured woman from every angle, as if trying to decide on the best way to finish her off.

"Does it hurt…?"

Kitsune grimaced at the gentle, motherly tone of Shinobu's voice. "Fuck you," she gritted, glaring up at the other woman in open defiance. "Just… just do it, you sick freak."

Smiling brightly, Shinobu reached down and grasped the handle of the kitchen's biggest butcher knife, pulling it from where she had it concealed under the edge of Keitaro's mattress.

"Alright."

As she started forward, however, Keitaro let out a soft, miserable moan, his voice so rough and abused that Su barely recognized the words he was uttering.

"Na…ru… 'm… sorry…"

Shinobu froze, her body rigid as a board as the words hung in the air like a specter. She began to tremble, lifting her hands up and staring at them as if she had never seen them before, her eyes wide and clear for the first time that night. The knife fell from her hands, landing point-down at her feet as she tried – desperately – to understand why she was doing what she was doing.

"I… Keitaro, I…" she fumbled for words, turning to face him with an expression that was pure horror.

Su's heart broke at the utter confusion in her friend's voice, and even as she watched, Shinobu's face went from scared, to ecstatic, to cold and calculating, before focusing on Keitaro's wrists… and going to unadulterated misery.

"Never… meant…"

Shinobu began muttering under her breath, her hands twitching at her sides as she paced back and forth in front of Keitaro's bed.

"Wasn't supposed to… shouldn't have… can't… I… Keitaro, I…"

Words failed. Nothing fit. There was nothing she could say to explain herself.

"Hkkk!"

She no longer needed to.

The knife punched through Shinobu's side with a sickening 'thunk,' lodging between two ribs as Kitsune – barely able to hold herself upright – stumbled back, leaning against Keitaro's dresser for support as Shinobu sank to her knees, her eyes wide and staring as she reached down and wonderingly explored the wooden handle jutting out just under her armpit.

There were no words of apology, no entreaties for forgiveness, and no explanations whatsoever. One minute Shinobu was alive and trying to comprehend why there was five inches of steel buried in her side, and the next… she was simply dead, sagging to the floor with a long, tired sigh and falling silent as her body evacuated all of the waste it had been holding onto.

Pretending there was not a dead body in the room, Kitsune grabbed the scissors lying on Keitaro's dresser, staggering almost drunkenly over and clumsily cutting first Keitaro's, then Su's bonds before slowly sitting down on the floor. "God," she whispered, staring at Shinobu's corpse as Su hurried over to Keitaro's side, "I need a drink…"

"I'll get you a double," Su promised, wrapping Keitaro's bloody wrists in one of his undershirts and gently pulling the blindfold away from his eyes. "I'll get you a whole bottle of whatever you…"

She trailed off as the scissors fell to the ground with a loud clatter, looking quickly to where Kitsune was still sitting in the middle of the floor. The gray-haired girl's undamaged eye was fixed and unblinking, and without needing to check, Su knew that she was dead.

In passing, the gray-haired woman took with her the details of how she clawed her way out of her own shallow grave and dragged herself to her room, drifting helplessly in and out of consciousness as Keitaro screamed himself hoarse less than ten feet away before finally summoning the last of her flagging strength to force her body into motion.

It is unfortunate that Kitsune did not have the opportunity to tell Su that it was the sound of her voice that got her moving, or that her last fully coherent thought was, _At least I got here before she got Su, too_.

Perhaps it would have offered some kind of consolation to know that, in a roundabout way, she had been key in ending things once and for all.

"Why?" Su sobbed, clutching her head as blood from her earlier head wound began to seep between her fingers. "Keitaro, why? Why did this have to happen?"

Keitaro said nothing, his eyes staring resolutely at the ceiling as fresh tears began to leak from the corners of his eyes.

He never spoke to Su again.

As far as she knew, he never spoke to anyone again.

The End

Note: Chapter 1 will be posted in two days.

Hawker-748 pre-read once more.


	11. Protogenesis

Disclaimer: see part 2.

Stability

Part 1 – Protogenesis

By Random1377

"Name?"

"Sh-shinobu Maehara."

"Age?"

"Eighteen."

"And you are currently enrolled in Todai, correct?"

Shinobu shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the Orwellian interrogation, but knowing it was the only course open to her. Wetting her lips, she looked around the sparsely furnished room, blinking in the harsh light of the overhead fluorescent bar as the two men on the other side of the desk waited with barely contained impatience.

"Yes," she said finally, "I'm a second year, and-"

"Your application says you live in an all-girls dorm."

"Yeah."

"Do you have any known health problems?"

"N-no sir."

"Are you sexually active?"

"What?"

"Are you sexually active?"

Blushing faintly at the question, and the cold, no-nonsense way it was asked, Shinobu shook her head. "No, sir, I've never even had a boyf-"

"Miss Maehara."

"Yes?"

The bigger of the two men leaned forward, staring dispassionately down at the nervous girl as his smaller associate made notes on a clipboard. "The Weismann Institute is not a charity," he said, his tone indicating that he was reciting a rote, memorized speech that – at one time – had some type of meaning to him but, through repetition, had become nothing more than ceremony.

"By participating in this study, you must be willing to provided uncolored feedback on our latest research – uncolored, Miss Maehara, meaning that you must be willing to note any changes in mood, attitude, or appetite, as well as taking experimental medications at designated times without fail, and without question. If you are willing to do this for us, we will be willing to compensate you by covering your tuition for the next four years. If you are not, please feel free to leave at this time."

Shinobu fidgeted. "What… what kind of medica-"

"Without question, Miss Maehara," the man cut in, holding his hand over his shoulder and taking the clipboard from his companion. "Our interview is at an end. Please sign here, or see yourself out."

Feeling a bit sick, Shinobu looked down at the paper on the clipboard, her eyes picking up words like, 'nondisclosure,' and, 'compensation,' and, most disturbingly, a line about releasing Weismann Institute from any legal obligation that may result from the subject's incapacitation.

_But I really need the money…_

Slowly, she took the pen the man held out to her and signed her name on the dotted line, feeling vaguely uneasy about the entire interview. There had only been a handful of others in the waiting room, and she had seen almost every one of them walk out looking embarrassed or angry, but – as she had reminded herself – the money was why she was there.

She had not told anyone at the Hinata Sou yet, but her parents were no longer able to pay for her tuition _and_ boarding fees, and this research study was the fastest, surest way to ensure that she did not have to give up on her dreams.

As soon as she had returned the clipboard, the man snapped his fingers, and the small white door Shinobu had noticed when she had first come into the room swung open and a tall, redheaded woman in a laboratory coat stepped out, glancing at her watch as she muttered, "Only one? Five oh five and you only have one for me?"

Sighing, she strode up to Shinobu and handed her a small, spiral bound notebook.

"This is your journal," she said smoothly. "You are to write any changes in mood, appetite, attitude… everything these gentlemen went over with you. You are to use the provided pen, write neatly, and exclude nothing during the course of the test period – including any changes to your monthly cycle. Is that understood?"

Shinobu nodded timidly, then slowly raised her hand.

"Yes, what is it?" the woman asked, glancing again at her watch as if irritated that she was being forced to work after five o'clock.

"How… how long _is_ the test period, ma'am," Shinobu asked uncertainly. "They… no one's told me."

"Ah, yes," the woman nodded. "It is a thirty day experiment. Now," she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small packet. "The controllers will note that the test materials were sealed when given to you," the men behind the table nodded and wrote this information on their clipboards as the woman tore the packet open. "You will take one pill by mouth, twice per day – when you wake, and right before bed – with the first dose to be administered immediately."

"R-right now?" Shinobu squeaked.

Ignoring the girl's stammered inquiry, the woman pulled a row of blister packed pills from the packet and popped one out, holding it out to Shinobu between her thumb and forefinger. Shinobu had not noticed until that very moment, but the hand the woman used to handle the pill was firmly encased in not one, but two latex gloves.

She also noticed that the pills themselves were a sickly, putrescent green.

"There will be a more appealing coating on it before mass production," the woman said, noticing the line of Shinobu's sight. "Here," she snapped her fingers and one of the men reached under the desk, producing – of all things – a bottle of Coca-Cola with a twist-off cap, "Something to wash it down."

Feeling suddenly uneasy, Shinobu took the pill and – before she could change her mind – popped it into her mouth and swallowed it, grabbing the Coke bottle and twisting the cap off to take a long pull.

"Excellent," the woman said approvingly, and Shinobu was disturbed to find that she could sense a hint of hunger in the woman's otherwise cool voice.

"What… can I ask what these pills do…?" Shinobu asked meekly, promising herself that this would be the only time she broke the rule about asking questions.

The woman smiled, but it never quite made it to her eyes.

"It's an experimental drug to prevent the common cold."

"Oh," Shinobu said. "But what if I don't get a cold in the next month?"

The woman's smile grew until Shinobu could see all of her teeth. "Then you'll know it's working."

Shinobu shrank back in her seat as the man who had been questioning her rose to his feet. The reason for her sudden fear was that the man, who had been hunched over and seated behind a desk for the entire interview, was well over six feet tall and looked about as wide, towering over her as he gathered his papers with one hand and pointed to the door with the other.

"Have a nice afternoon, Miss Maehara," he said, sounding as if he did not care if she had a good day or got hit by a semi-truck. "Don't forget your journal."

Somehow, Shinobu felt that this was more a threat than a friendly reminder.

Taking the packet of medicine from the woman's hand, Shinobu looked around for a garbage can to throw the bottle of Coke away. Seeing nothing, she offered the bottle to the woman in the lab coat, but the woman shied away, politely holding up her hand (the gloved one) and taking a small step back.

"Keep it," she said smoothly, once again smiling that cool, mirthless smile. "And have a nice day."

Shinobu shrugged and walked out into the warm afternoon sunlight. In spite of her misgivings about the Weismann Institute, she was finally taking steps to ensure a brighter future for herself. Taking another sip of her Coke, she smiled, letting the warm sun wash over her face.

Everything was going to work out just fine…

The End

Hawker-748 pre-read this whole story and convinced me that holding the first chapter until the end would be a good way to keep from giving everything away and change this from a straightforward 'character goes nuts' story to more of a mystery/suspense. Big time thanks going out to him for making this story not suck. Or at least, not suck as much as it would have without his help.


End file.
